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I.  E.  Rouse  Memorial  Library 
William  Carey  College 

Hattiesburg,  Mississippi  y 


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WOMEN  TORCH- BEARERS 

The  Story  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 


V  ELIZABETH  PUTNAM  GORDON 


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^  National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 

^>^  Publishing  House 

Evanston,    Illinois 


IZI^^ 


Copyright,  1924 

by 

National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 


Dedicated  to  the  home-loving  and  progressive 
members  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union.  Their  activities  for  fifty  years  have  made 
possible  a  Golden  History  and  a  Golden  Prophecy. 


FOREWORD 

A  Bible  seer  must  have  included  The  Woman's  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union  in  his  prophetic  utterance  when  he  declared  "The  women 
that  publish  the  tidings  are  a  great  host,"  For  fifty  years  a  multitude 
of  American  white  ribbon  women  have  proclaimed  the  gospel  of  total 
abstinence,  purity,  peace  and  prohibition  and  are  now  sending  to  trie 
ends  of  the  earth  the  glad  tidings  of  national  victory  over  the  thraldom 
of  the  liquor  traffic. 

In  writing  "The  Story  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union,"  the  historian  could  include  only  such  names  and  statistics 
as  are  needed  to  make  the  account  graphic  and  helpful.  Principles  and 
facts  are  emphasized  that  the  oncoming  generation  may  catch  the 
spirit  of  the  marching  mothers  of  the  Crusade  and  realize  the  high 
historic  points  of  the  national  and  international  growth  of  the  Wom- 
an's Christian  Temperance  Union.  One  of  the  outstanding  results 
of  the  education,  agitation  and  organization  of  the  Woman's  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union,  from  Crusade  to  Jubilee  days,  is  the  steady 
growth  of  public  opinion  in  support  of  the  fundamental  principles  of 
total  abstinence  for  the  individual  and  prohibition  for  the  state  and 
nation.  Hence,  it  is  essential  to  the  history  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  that 
high  authorities  in  science,  social  economy,  the  church  and  the  govern- 
ment should  be  cited.  This  is  as  joyous  a  feature  of  the  story  of 
fifty  years  as  is  the  victorious  culmination  in  the  writing  of  the 
Eighteenth  and  Nineteenth  Amendments. 

The  phenomenal  history  of  fifty  years  cannot  be  compressed  into 
one  volume.  A  chronological  summary  given  in  the  Appendix  furn- 
ishes dates  and  data  for  handy  reference.  Fortunately  the  names  of 
hundreds  of  noteworthy  white  ribboners  who  nobly  and  ably  laid  the 
foundations  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  are  given  in  state  histories, 
in  state  and  national  annual  reports.  The  Union  Signal,  and  in  The 
Brief  History  prepared  by  Katharine  Lent  Stevenson.  May  we  not 
reverently  say  that  they  are  also  recorded  in  "The  Manuscript  of  God." 

The  book  is  published  under  the  direction  of  a  sub-committee  of  the 
National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Jubilee  committee. 

E.  P.  G. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

Lyrasis  IVIembers  and  Sloan  Foundation 


http://www.archive.org/details/womentorchbearerOOgord 


CHAPTER  Contents 


PAGE 


I     The  Woman's  Crusade  1 

II     Mobilization  and  Organization  13 

III  The  Fight  for  a  Clear  Brain 30 

IV  The  World's  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  59 
V    Legislative  Achievements 86 

VI     Patriotism  and  War  Prohibition  112 

VII     The  Eighteenth  Amendment;  Allegiance  to  the 

Constitution    133 

VIII     The  Nineteenth  Amendment 162 

IX    Our  Golden  Jubilee  176 

X    A  Golden  History;  A  Golden  Prophecy 214 

Appendix:  Chronological  Summary  246 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Hold  High  the  Torch   Frontispiece 

Facing  Page 

Crusaders  of  Hillsboro,  Ohio,  December,  1873,  praying  in  front  of  a  Saloon     3 

Annie  Wittennoyer,  Eliza  Thompson,  Mother  Stewart,  Zerelda  Wallace 8 

Frances   E.   Willard    16 

Esther  Pugh,  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens,  Caroline  B.  Buell,  Frances  E.  Willard, 
Mary  A.  Woodbridge   23 

Campaigning  in  Colorado,   in   1924 

Pioneering  in  Montana,  in   1883    27 

First  verse  of  "Saloons  Must  Go" 

A  facsimile  of  Frances  E.  Willard's  original  copy   33 

Mrs.  Hannah  J.  Bailey,  Mrs.  Anna  S.  Benjamin,  Mrs.  Edith  Smith  Davis, 
Mrs.  Adelia  E.  Carman,  Mrs.  J.  K.  Barney,  Mrs.  Sallie  Chapin,  Mrs. 
Emilie  D.  Martin,  Mrs.  Mary  H.  Hunt,  Miss  Elizabeth  W.  Greenwood  36 

Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens   43 

Clara  C.  Hoffman,  Susanna  M.  D.  Fry,  Helen  M.  Barker,  Louise  S.  Rounds, 
Katharine  Lent  Stevenson,  Frances  E.  Beauchamp,  Elizabeth  P.  Hutchin- 
son, Mary  Clement  Leavitt,  Mary  T.  Lathrap   55 

The  Lady  Henry  Somerset,  Mrs.  Margaret  Bright  Lucas,  Rosalind,  Countess 
of  Carlisle. 

World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  Petition  to  the  Governments  of  the  World   60 

Miss  A.  Amy  Spalding,  Miss  Christine  I.  Tinling,  Madame  Kaji  Yajima, 
Miss  Hardynia  K.  Norville,  Miss  Flora  E.  Strout,  Mrs.  Frances  Willard 
Wang    Liu     82 

Margaret  Dye  Ellis. 

Part  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Legislative  Headquarters,  Washington,  D.  C. ; 
Mrs.  Lenna  Lowe  Yost  placing  a  W.  C.  T.  U.  Allegiance  Enrollment  Card 
in   one   of  the   filing   cases    87 

Medal  presented  by  the  French  government,  in  gratitude  for  distinguished 
W.  C.  T.  U.  war  relief  service,  to  Miss  Leila  M.  Sewall. 

The  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  War  Service  Flag.  The  Stars  represent  sons, 
husbands  and  brothers  of  white  ribboners. 

National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Ambulance  used  in  war  service  in  France  119 

W.  C.  T.  U.  Mother-Child  Center,  Detroit,  Michigan. 

Children  of  W.  C.  T.  U.  Americanization  Center,  St.  Louis,  Missouri 151 


Mrs.  Cull  a  J.  Vayhinger,  Mrs.  Deborah  Knox  Livingston,  Mrs.  Frances  W. 
Graham,  Mrs.  Mary  Harris  Armor,  Catharine  Waugh  McCuIloch   ....15S 

General  Officers  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  1924: 

Anna  A.  Gordon,  President;  Ella  A.  Boole,  Vice-President;  Frances  P. 
Parks>  Corresponding  Secretary;  Elizabeth  P.  Anderson,  Recording 
Secretary;  Sara  H.  Hoge,  Assistant  Recording  Secretary;  Margaret  C. 
Munns,  Treasurer    176 

Distribution  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  in  the  United 
States ;  each  dot  represents  a  local  union   183 

Willard  Fountain,  Lincoln  Park,  Chicago,  Illinois;  W.  C.  T.  U.  Float, 
Waterbun,',    Connecticut 215 

Historic  Rest  Cottage,  The  Willard,  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Administration 
Building     217 

Editors  of  The  Union  Signal:  Harriet  B.  Kells,  Julia  F.  Deane,  Clara  C. 
Chapin.  Marv  Bannister  Willard,  Margaret  Sudduth,  Julia  A.  Ames, 
Mar}'  Allen  West,  Cornelia  T.  Hatcher  221 

Mary  B.  Ervin  and  The  Loyal  Temperance  Legion   231 

Frances  J.  Barnes,  Maude  B.  Perkins,  Grace  Leigh  Scott,  Charlotte  B. 
Eraser;  Young  People's  Branch  Field  Day  in  New  York  233 

Statue  of  Frances  E.  Willard  in  Statuary  Hall,  Washington,  D.  C 237 


Hold   High  the  Torch 


CHAPTER  I 

The  Woman's  Crusade 

In  the  annals  of  history,  December  17,  1917,  is  an  epochal  victory 
date.  There  was  enacted  that  day  in  the  Capital  City  of  the  United 
States  one  of  the  greatest  moral,  economic  and  legislative  triumphs 
of  the  world.  By  a  more  than  two-thirds  vote  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives of  the  Sixty-fifth  Congress  passed  a  resolution  submitting  to  the 
states  a  National  Constitutional  Prohibition  Amendment — the 
Eighteenth.  The  Senate  concurred.  Ratification  by  three-fourths  of 
the  states  occurred.  On  January  29,  1919,  the  Acting  Secretary  of 
State,  Hon.  Frank  Lyon  Polk,  issued  a  proclamation  declaring  prohibi- 
tion of  the  liquor  traffic  a  part  of  the  fundamental  and  organic  law 
of  the  land.    The  law  went  into  effect  on  January  16,  1920. 

On  that  memorable  day  of  decision,  December  17,  1917,  the 
friends  and  foes  of  prohibition  crowded  the  galleries  of  the  House 
of  Representatives.  Mother-hearted  women  and  women  masterly  in 
leadership  were  there.  From  Maine  to  California,  from  the  Great 
Lakes  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  they  had  come.  \Vhat  had  been  their 
part  in  the  setting  of  such  a  marvelous  scene — a  picture  worthy  to  be 
etched  on  a  Heavenly  canvas?  Who  were  these  womanly  women 
representative  of  all  that  is  best  in  the  home  and  church?  They  were 
the  members  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  organized 
in  every  state  and  territory,  an  organization  that  for  over  forty  years 
had  been  waging  a  peaceful  war  against  the  most  relentless  enemy  of 
the  home,  the  legalized  liquor  traffic. 

"In  the  beginning,"  in  the  winter  of  1873-1874,  there  were  brave, 
home-loving  Crusaders,  the  mothers  and  grandmothers  of  these  present- 
day  white  ribboners  assembled  December  17,  1917,  in  Washington, 
D,  C.  God  heard  the  sorrowful,  appealing  cry  of  suffering  women 
and  children  that  went  up  from  countless  homes.  He  called  to  the 
defense  of  helpless  humanity  his  last  reserves — the  mothers,  wives, 
sisters  and  daughters.  With  mighty  power  the  Crusade  swept  over 
the  land.  How  little  the  women  realized  that  it  was  the  genesis  of 
the  Federal  protection  of  the  home  and  the  Federal  emancipation  of 
women.  This  revolt  of  American  womanhood  against  the  legalized 
liquor  traffic  was  one  of  the  greatest  moral  upheavals  of  the  nineteenth 
century. 


Women    Torch-bearers 


In  her  Crusade  classic,  written  in  1895,  Frances  E.  Willard  gives 
this  pen  picture  of  the  leader  of  the  Crusade: 

"Every  whirlwind  has  its  first  leaf;  for  the  laws  of  motion  oblige 
it  to  begin  somewhere  in  particular.  Other  leaves  are  gathered  in  so 
rapidly  that  it  is  usually  impossible  to  tell  which  one  stirred  first;  but 
whichever  that  one  was,  with  it  the  whirlwind  began.  The  'Ohio 
Crusade'  has  passed  into  history;  the  'Ohio  Crusaders'  have  won  an 
inextinguishable  fame.  The  'Women  of  the  West,'  who  led  the 
'Whisky  War,'  as  it  is  called  through  the  British  Empire,  gained  for 
themselves,  without  intending  it,  the  pioneer  place  in  that  great  Wom- 
an's Temperance  Movement  that  now  belts  the  globe.  The  whirlwind 
of  the  Lord  began  in  the  little  town  of  Hillsboro,  on  the  twenty-third 
of  December,  1873.  There  the  pentecost  of  God  descended,  and  sev- 
enty women,  without  the  slightest  preconcerted  plan,  lifted  their  hands 
as  silent  witnesses,  when  asked  by  the  good  ministers  and  the  famous 
lecturer.  Dr.  Dio  Lewis,  if  they  were  willing  to  go  out  from  their 
homes  and  pray  in  the  places  where  their  husbands,  sons,  and  brothers 
were  tempted  to  their  ruin.  There  the  Crusade  Psalm  was  read;  a 
rallying  cry,  'Give  to  the  Winds  thy  Fears,'  was  sung ;  and  the  first 
silent,  prayerful  procession  of  wives  and  mothers  moved  along  Ohio 
streets.  The  gentle-hearted  woman  whom  they  chose  as  their  leader 
by  spontaneous  acclamation  was  one  whose  heart  had  been  chastened 
by  glorious  discipline  and  sorrow.  Away  back  in  1836,  she  had  ac- 
companied her  father,  then  an  Ohio  delegate  to  the  National  Temper- 
ance Convention  held  in  Saratoga,  New  York,  and  when,  at  his  re- 
quest, she  went  with  him  to  the  door  of  the  hotel  dining-room,  which 
afforded  ample  accommodation  for  all  the  delegates  in  that  rudimentary 
period  of  the  movement,  and  he  asked  her  to  enter  with  him,  Elizabeth 
Thompson,  who  was  a  girl  of  but  twenty  years,  naturally  hesitated, 
saying  to  her  stout-hearted  sire:  'Why  father,  I  am  afraid  to  go  in. 
I  looked  through  the  door,  and  there  were  no  women  present,  only 
men.'  Upon  this  the  governor  exclaimed:  'Come  right  along  with 
me;  my  daughter  must  never  be  afraid  in  a  good  cause'!  And  taking 
her  by  the  arm,  he  introduced  the  first  woman  who  ever  entered  a 
National  Temperance  Convention.  Who  shall  say  that  in  this  scene 
— how  much  more  worthy  of  a  painter  than  most  of  the  subjects  that 
they  choose! — we  have  not  a  prophecy  of  what  was  to  transpire  nearly 
forty  years  later  in  the  town  of  that  sweet  girl's  nativity?     Ancestry 


The     Woman's     Crusade 


counts  for  much,  and  it  should  never  be  forgotten,  in  our  study  of 
heredity,  that  the  leader  of  the  Crusade  came  of  a  long  line  of  devout 
Christian  ancestors,  whose  earlier  history  dated  back  to  Virginia,  that 
famous  state  which  was  the  home  of  George  Washington,  and  is 
known  in  history  as  the  'Mother  of  Presidents.' 

"Hillsboro  is  the  cradle,  even  as  Washington  Court-house  is  the 
crown  of  the  Crusade.  So  far  as  I  can  learn,  the  women  of  Hillsborc 
put  forward  no  claim,  nor  did  their  leader.  Perhaps,  this  was  because 
there  was  no  need  for  them  to  do  so;  and  to  my  mind,  the  strongest 
confirmation  of  their  deserved  pre-eminence  is  the  quiet,  gentle,  peace- 
making spirit  that  they  have  shown  from  the  beginning.  For  my  part, 
I  can  testify  that  it  has  only  been  'by  the  hardest'  that  her  comrades 
have  been  able  to  induce  Mrs.  Thompson  to  come  forward  and  gently 
take  her  place  as  'leader  of  the  first  Praying  Band.'  On  some  notable 
occasions,  this  typical  woman  of  the  home,  the  church  and  school  has 
stood  forth  as  a  historic  figure.  Who  of  us,  whose  lot  has  been  cast 
as  an  officer  or  delegate  to  the  National  Convention  since  the  begin- 
ning, can  forget  the  genial,  smiling  presence  and  piquant  words  of  that 
Crusade  mother  whom  we  all  love  so  much?  To  hear  her  tell  the 
story  of  the  way  in  which  the  movement  broke  out  in  Hillsboro  is  an 
experience  to  be  cherished  for  a  lifetime.  Her  quaint,  refined  pres- 
ence; her  mild,  motherly  face,  framed  in  its  little  cap;  her  soft  voice; 
her  peculiar  manner  of  utterance,  combining  remarkable  originality 
with  the  utmost  gentleness  and  good  breeding;  her  inimitable  humor; 
and,  most  characteristic  of  all,  her  deep,  abiding  faith  in  God  and  in 
humanity, — all  these  have  made  an  indelible  impression,  and  helped, 
beyond  what  we  can  at  all  estimate,  to  form  the  character  of  the  White 
Ribbon  Movement.  Naturally  of  a  conservative  disposition,  Mrs. 
Thompson  has,  nevertheless,  kept  time  to  the  company's  music;  she  has 
taken  every  wave  of  the  enrolling  tide  of  impulse  that  we  believe  to  be 
from  God,  as  a  strong  swimmer  breasts  the  incoming  waves  of  the 
sea.  It  was  no  trifle  for  a  woman  with  the  traditions  of  'Old  Virginia' 
to  accept  our  woman's  suffrage  resolution  away  back  in  1877;  and  the 
beauty  of  it  was,  that  her  manner  of  announcing  the  faith  that  was 
within  her  lent  so  much  of  quiet  strength  to  the  decision  of  the  Con- 
vention. 

"It  was  my  good  fortune,  as  far  back  as  1876,  to  make  a  tour  among 
the  Crusaders  of  Ohio,  visiting  well-nigh  forty  of  their  towns  and  vil- 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


lages.  I  could  write  a  volume  on  the  history,  experience,  and  inspira- 
tion of  that  memorable  pilgrimage.  It  was  one  of  the  few  times  in  my 
life  that  I  ever  went  forth  alone;  and  I  was  mothered  in  the  homes  of 
those  devoted  women  with  a  tenderness  that  will  never  be  forgotten. 
My  own  stipulation  in  making  the  trip  was  that  I  should  go  to  Hills- 
boro,  the  home  of  Mrs.  Thompson,  and  to  Springfield,  the  home  of 
Mother  Stewart,  in  both  of  which  we  took  sweet  counsel  together. 

"Mrs.  Thompson's  home  is  the  old  family  mansion  where  the 
governor  spent  all  his  days,  and  which  he  bequeathed  to  his  beloved 
only  daughter.  It  stands  on  a  slight  ascent  and  in  a  wooded  grove,  at 
the  edge  of  a  well-built  town  of  four  thousand  inhabitants,  and  is 
roomy  and  hospitable  as  heart  could  wish.  Here  I  met  Judge  Thomp- 
son, the  genial,  witty  lawyer,  and  the  husband  of  our  leader;  Mrs. 
Marie  Thompson  Rives,  the  accomplished  elder  daughter;  and  Henry 
Thompson,  the  youth  who  brought  the  tidings  to  his  mother  that 
she  was  expected  at  the  church  on  that  memorable  morning.  I  longed 
to  see  that  lovely  younger  daughter,  who  from  her  pocket  Bible  brought 
to  her  mother  the  Crusade  Psalm  that  is  the  Magna  Charta  of  the 
White  Ribbon  Movement ;  but  she  was  gone,  having  been  married  to 
Herbert  Tuttle,  the  distinguished  professor  in  Cornell  University, 
Ithaca,  New  York." 

Mother  Thompson's  own  account  of  her  Crusade  call  is  a  valu- 
able record.  She  tells  of  the  lecture  given  by  Dr.  Dio  Lewis  of  Bos- 
ton, in  Hillsboro,  Ohio,  December,  1873.  She  did  not  attend  the  meet- 
ing, but  her  sixteen-year-old  son,  much  excited,  ran  home  to  tell  the 
thrilling  incidents  of  the  evening.     This  is  her  story: 

"My  son  related  how  Dr.  Lewis  told  of  his  o'wti  mother  and 
several  of  her  good  Christian  friends  uniting  in  praj^r  with  and  for 
the  liquor-sellers  of  his  native  town,  until  they  gave  up  their  soul-de- 
stroying business,  and  then  said, — 'Ladies,  you  might  do  the  same  thing 
in  Hillsboro  if  you  had  the  same  faith';  and  turning  to  the  ministers 
and  temperance  men  who  were  upon  the  platform,  he  added:  'Suppose 
I  ask  the  ladies  of  this  audience  to  signify  their  opinions  upon  the  sub- 
ject.' They  all  bowed  their  consent,  and  fifty  or  more  women  stood  up 
in  token  of  approval.  He  then  asked  the  gentlemen  how  many  of  them 
would  stand  as  backers,  should  the  ladies  undertake  the  work,  and  sixty 
or  seventy  arose.  'And  now,  mother,'  said  my  boy,  'they  have  got  you 
into  business,   for  you  are  on  a  committee  to   do  some  work  at  the 


The     Woman's     Crusade 


Presbyterian  Church  in  the  morning  at  nine  o'clock,  and  then  the 
ladies,  want  you  to  go  with  them  to  the  saloons.' 

"My  husband  seemed  asleep  as  he  rested  upon  the  couch,  while  my 
son,  in  an  undertone,  had  given  me  all  the  above  facts,  but  as  the  last 
sentence  was  uttered,  he  raised  himself  upon  his  elbow,  and  said,  'What 
tomfoolery  is  that'?  My  son  slipped  out  of  the  room  quietly,  and  I  be- 
took myself  to  the  task  of  consoling  my  husband  with  the  promise 
that  I  should  not  be  led  into  any  foolish  act  by  Dio  Lewis  or  any  asso- 
ciation of  human  beings.  But  after  he  had  relaxed  into  a  milder  mood, 
continuing  to  call  the  whole  thing,  as  he  understood  it,  'tomfoolery,' 
I  ventured  to  remind  him  that  the  men  had  been  in  the  'tomfoolery' 
business  a  long  time,  and  suggested  that  it  might  be  God's  vdll  that 
the  women  should  now  take  their  part.  Nothing  further  was  said  upon 
the  subject  that  had  created  such  interest  the  night  before,  until  after 
breakfast,  when  we  gathered  in  the  family  room.  First  my  son  ap- 
proached me,  and  placing  his  hand  gently  upon  my  shoulder,  in  a  very 
subdued  tone  said,  'Mother,  are  you  not  going  over  to  the  church  this 
morning'?  As  I  hesitated,  and  doubtless  showed  in  my  countenance  the 
burden  upon  my  spirit,  he  emphatically  said,  'But,  my  dear  mother,  you 
know  you  have  to  go.'  Then  my  daughter,  who  was  sitting  on  a  stool 
by  my  side,  leaning  over  in  a  most  tender  manner,  and  looking  up  in  my 
face,  said,  'Don't  you  think  you  will  go'?  All  this  time  my  husband 
had  been  walking  the  floor,  uttering  not  a  word.  He  stopped,  and 
placing  his  hand  on  the  family  Bible,  that  lay  upon  my  work-table,  said, 
emphatically,  'Children,  you  know  where  your  mother  goes  to  settle 
all  vexed  questions;  let  us  leave  her  alone';  withdrawing  as  he  spoke, 
and  the  dear  children  following  him.  I  turned  the  key,  and  was  in  the 
act  of  kneeling  before  God  and  His  Holy  Word,  to  see  what  would 
be  sent  me,  when  I  heard  a  gentle  tap  at  my  door;  upon  opening  it  I 
saw  my  dear  daughter,  with  her  little  Bible  open,  and  the  tears  cours- 
ing down  her  young  cheeks,  as  she  said,  'I  opened  to  this,  mother.  It 
must  be  for  you.' 

"She  immediately  left  the  room,  and  I  sat  down  to  read  the  won- 
derful message  of  the  great  'I  am'  contained  in  the  one  hundred  forty- 
sixth  Psalm.  No  longer  doubting,  I  at  once  repaired  to  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  where  quite  a  large  assembly  of  earnest  workers  had  gathered. 
I  was  at  once  unanimously  chosen  as  the  president,  Mrs.  General  Mc- 
Dowell as  vice-president,   and   Mrs.  D.  K.   Fenner,  secretary  of  the 


Women    To  rc  h  -  b  e  a  r  er  s 


strange  work  that  was  to  follow.  Appeals  were  drawn  up  to  druggists, 
saloon-keepers,  and  hotel  proprietors.  Then  the  Presbyterian  minister 
(Dr.  McSurely),  who  had  up  to  this  time  occupied  the  chair,  called  upon 
the  chairman-elect  to  come  forward  to  the  'post  of  honor,'  but  I  could 
not;  my  limbs  refused  to  bear  me.  So  Dr.  McSurely  remarked,  as  he 
looked  around  upon  the  gentlemen :  'Brethren,  I  see  that  the  ladies  will 
do  nothing  while  we  remain ;  let  us  adjourn,  leaving  this  new  work 
with  God  and  the  women.' 

"As  the  last  man  closed  the  door  after  him,  strength  before  unknown 
came  to  me,  and  without  any  hesitation  or  consultation,  I  walked  for- 
ward to  the  minister's  table,  took  the  large  Bible,  and  opening  it,  ex- 
plained the  incidents  of  the  morning;  then  read  the  Psalm,  and  briefly 
(as  my  tears  would  allow)  commented  upon  its  new  meaning  to  me. 
I  then  called  upon  Mrs.  McDowell  to  lead  in  praj'er — and  such  a 
prayer!  It  seemed  as  if  the  angel  had  brought  down  'live  coal'  from 
off  the  altar  and  touched  her  lips — she  who  had  never  before  heard  her 
own  voice  in  prayer!  As  we  rose  from  our  knees  (for  there  were  none 
sitting  on  that  morning),  I  asked  Mrs.  Cowden  (our  Methodist  min- 
ister's wife),  to  start  the  good  old  hymn,  'Give  to  the  Winds  thy  Fears,' 
and  turning  to  the  dear  women,  I  said,  'As  we  all  join  in  singing  this 
hymn,  let  us  form  in  line,  two  and  two,  the  small  women  in  front,, 
leaving  the  tall  ones  to  bring  up  the  rear,  and  let  us  at  once  proceed 
to  our  sacred  mission,  trusting  alone  in  the  God  of  Jacob.' 

"It  was  all  done  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  write  it,  every 
heart  was  throbbing,  and  every  woman's  countenance  betrayed  her 
solemn  realization  of  the  fact  that  she  was  going  'about  her  Father's 
business.'  As  this  band  of  'mysterious  beings'  first  encountered  the 
outside  gaze,  and  as  they  passed  from  the  door  of  the  old  church,  and 
reached  the  street  beyond  the  large  church  yard,  they  were  singing 
these   prophetic  words, 

'Far,  far  above  thy  thought, 

His  counsel  shall  appear, 
When  fully  He  the  work  hath  wrought 
That  caused  thy  needless  fear.' 
"On  they  marched,  in  solemn  silence,  up  to  Main  street.     After 
calling    at   all   the   drug-stores,    four   in   number,    their   pledge    being 
signed   by  all  the   dealers  save  one,   they  entered  saloons  and   hotels, 
on  this  and  subsequent  days,  with  varied  success,  until  by  continuous 


The     Woman^s      Crusade 


daily  visitations,  with  persuasion,  prayer,  and  song,  and  Scripture  read- 
ings, the  drinking  places  of  the  town  were  reduced  from  thirteen  to 
one  drug  store,  one  hotel,  and  two  saloons,  and  they  sold  'very  cautious- 
ly.' Prayer-meetings  were  held  during  the  entire  winter  and  spring, 
every  morning  (except  Sunday),  and  mass-meetings  in  the  evenings, 
at  the  Methodist  Church  one  week  and  at  the  Presbyterian  the  next. 
This  is,  in  brief,  the  story." 

There  were  scores  of  prominent  leaders  whose  names  might  well 
he  mentioned,  but  Mother  Stewart  (Mrs.  E.  D.)  of  Ohio,  was  one  of 
the  outstanding  Crusaders  in  the  state  and  nation.  Her  personality  and 
work  were  unique.  In  the  south,  as  well  as  throughout  the  north,  she 
thrilled  her  audiences  as  she  pictured  the  adventures  and  power  of  the 
marvelous  Crusade.  Her  fervent  appeals  awakened  public  sentiment 
for  total  abstinence  and  the  closing  of  the  saloons  by  law.  She  was  the 
first  American  woman  to  carry  the  Crusade  impulse  across  the  sea ; 
and  her  enthusiasm  greatly  helped  in  the  formation  of  the  British 
Women's  Temperance  Association. 

At  the  Crusade  Anniversary  Convention  held  September  7-14,  1923, 
in  Columbus,  Ohio,  Anna  A,  Gordon  entitled  her  presidential  message, 
'The  Marching  Mothers  of  the  Crusade." 

"To  Ohio's  hallowed  soil  we  have  come,"  she  said.  "On  the  vic- 
torious battle-ground  of  the  Crusade  State  we  are  to  let  the  mighty 
memories  of  thousands  of  Crusade  marching  mothers  have  their  com- 
plete, profound,  pentecostal  way  with  us.  So  shall  we  more  adequately 
meet  the  challenge  of  the  old  crusade  by  the  march  of  the  new  crusade 
— a  'March  of  Allegiance'  to  the  polling  booths  of  1924. 

"Fortunate  are  we  of  the  National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  to  inherit  the  holy  Crusade  spirit  kindled  on  thousands  of 
Crusade  altars  by  these  women  called  of  God.  Their  daring  courage, 
their  persistent  faith,  their  superb  attack  on  the  strongholds  of  the 
liquor  trafKc  forever  will  be  the  wonder-feature  in  the  story  of  our 
great  and  victorious  reform.  The  Crusade  was  an  anguished  protest 
of  home-loving,  cultured,  ballotless  women.  It  began  in  the  winter  of 
1873  and,  according  to  one  chronicler,  'In  fifty  days  it  drove  the  liquor 
traffic,  horse,  foot  and  dragoons  out  of  two-hundred  fifty  towns  and 
villages,  increased  by  one  hundred  per  cent  the  attendance  at  church 
and  decreased  that  at  the  criminal  courts  in  almost  like  proportion.* 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


"At  the  height  of  their  dauntless  adventure,  a  sweet-voiced  Quaker 
woman  led  her  band  to  the  chief  saloon  in  an  Ohio  village.  'What 
business  have  you  to  come  here'?  roared  the  affrighted  dealer.  Going 
to  the  bar  she  laid  down  her  Bible  and  said,  'Thee  knows  I  had  five 
sons  and  twenty  grandsons,  and  thee  knows  that  many  of  them  learned 
to  drink  right  in  this  place,  and  one  went  forth  from  here  maddened 
with  wine  and  blew  his  brains  out  with  a  pistol  ball ;  and  can't  thee  let 
his  mother  lay  her  Bible  on  the  counter  whence  her  boy  took  up  tlic 
glass,  and  read  thee  what  God  says:  "Woe  unto  him  that  puttest  the 
bottle  to  his  neighbor's  lips?'  " 

"Like  a  prairie  fire  the  Crusade  swept  across  our  continent.  Frances 
E.  Willard,  as  a  young  teacher,  had  an  enthralling  glimpse  of  it  in 
Pittsburgh,  when  she  knelt  in  front  of  a  saloon  with  a  praying  band. 
Another  prohibition  hero,  Henry  W.  Blair,  termed  this  Christian  up- 
rising 'a  great  moral  commotion,  in  which  woman  escaped  and  learned 
her  power,  never  again  to  be  caged.'  Mrs.  Annie  Wittenmyer,  first 
president  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  characterized  it  as  a  'flash  of 
heavenly  light,  a  mighty  spiritual  swirl,  a  staggering  blow  that  sent 
the  rum-power  reeling  toward  its  fall.'  Hundreds  of  dram-shops  were 
closed,  countless  barrels  of  alcoholic  drink  gurgled  into  the  gutters  as 
church  bells  pealed  forth  the  people's  joy. 

"One  of  the  many  attempts  of  the  liquor  trade  to  ridicule  the 
marching  mothers  was  made  in  January,  1874,  at  Canton,  Ohio.  A 
spectacular  poster  advertising  the  'Great  American  Crusade  Circus  and 
Menagerie'  was  pasted  on  the  doors  of  churches  and  the  homes  of 
Crusaders.  Its  chief  decorative  attraction  was  an  American  eagle 
gracefully  carrj'ing  in  his  talons  something  strongly  resembling  our 
emblematic  white  ribbon.  'A  partial  list  of  animals'  appeared  with  a 
brief  description  of  each — a  clue  to  the  Crusader's  name.  Associated 
with  the  'female  rhinoceros,'  'laughing  hyena,'  'northern  gorilla,'  'Amer- 
ican tiger,'  and  many  others,  we  find  'The  American  deer — a  very  fine 
looking  doe,  better  looking  than  the  majority  of  the  other  animals  that 
arc  allowed  out  of  their  cages — captured  at  Ida  Island.'  This  Crusader 
of  Canton,  none  other  than  our  honored  Ida  Saxton  McKinley,  later 
became  the  beloved  mistress  of  the  White  House. 

"A  few  of  the  elect  souls  in  Ohio  and  other  states  who  forever  wear 
the  halo  of  the  Crusade  are:  Mrs.  Eliza  J.  Thompson,  Mrs.  M,  G. 
Carpenter,  'Mother'  Stewart,  Mrs.  H.  C.  McCabe,  Mrs.  W.  A.  Ing- 


8 


i^nnie  ^Bttenmijer 


^-''^iza.  ^ompsori 


■*r^ 


/ 


V 


^Mother  cSieivart 


ZtrcJdaWallact 


The     Woman's     Crusade 


ham,  Mrs.  Mattie  McClellan  Brown  and  Mrs.  Abbie  F.  Leavitt  of 
Ohio;  Mrs.  Jennie  Fowler  Willing,  Mrs.  E.  E.  Marcy  and  Mrs. 
Emily  Huntington  Miller  of  Illinois;  Mrs.  Annie  Wittenmyer  and 
Mrs.  Dr.  Gause  of  Pennsylvania;  Mrs.  Esther  McNeil,  Mrs.  Mary 
C.  Johnson  and  Miss  Margaret  Winslow  of  New  York;  Mrs.  Mary 
A.  Livermore  and  Mrs.  Susan  A.  Gifford  of  Massachusetts;  Mrs. 
Dorcas  J.  Spencer  and  Miss  Emma  Janes  of  California ;  Mrs.  Hutchins 
Hills,  Mrs.  Fenner  and  Mrs.  O.  H.  Wendell  of  New  Hampshire. 

"Forty-three  years  before  the  Ohio  Crusade,  in  Auburn,  New  York, 
a  saloon  crusading  band  of  women  was  led  by  Mrs.  Delecta  Barbour 
Lewis.  This  impressive  incident  occurring  during  the  boyhood  of  her 
son,  Dio,  led  him  later  in  life  when  a  popular  lyceum  lecturer  publicly  to 
urge  this  method  upon  the  women  in  saloon-cursed  communities.  For- 
tunately for  accurate  history  of  the  Crusade  miracle,  Dr.  Lewis  wrote 
in  1874  the  vivid  story  of  his  early  life  and  the  winter  of  1873. 

"  'There  was  trouble  at  our  house  when  I  was  a  small  boy.  My 
father  had  forgotten  everything  but  drink.  There  were  five  of  us 
small  people.  Our  mother,  with  her  own  hands  provided  for  all.  She 
earned  and  cooked  our  food,  cut  and  made  our  clothes — in  brief,  was 
father,  mother,  general  provider,  cook,  housekeeper,  and  nurse.  In  ad- 
dition to  all  this,  she  was  the  victim  of  abuse  and  violence.  Often  she 
would  cry  in  the  presence  of  her  children,  and  sometimes,  when  she 
could  bear  it  no  longer,  she  would  drag  her  weary  limbs  up  into  the 
garret.  We  knew  what  she  went  up  there  for,  and  sometimes,  we  could 
hear  her  say,  *0  God,  help  me,  help  me!  O  Lord,  how  long,  how  long?' 
Then  she  would  keep  very  still  for  a  while.  When  she  came  down  to 
us  again,  her  cheeks  were  wet,  but  her  face  shone  like  an  angel's.  She 
taught  us  to  pray.  We  grew  up  with  a  very  large  estimate  of  the  power 
of  prayer.  The  day  was  never  so  dark  at  home  that  mother  could  not 
go  up  into  the  garret  and  open  the  clouds.  Today,  more  than  forty 
years  after  those  darkest  times,  I  believe  in  my  heart  that  woman's 
prayer  is  the  most  powerful  agency  on  earth. 

"  'Nineteen  years  ago,  when  I  first  began  to  speak  in  public,  I 
prepared  a  lecture  upon  the  potency  of  the  prayers  of  women  in  grog- 
shops, which  during  those  years  I  have  delivered  more  than  three  hun- 
dred times.  Lecturing  before  the  lyceums  of  Ohio  during  December, 
1873,  I  gave  two  evenings  to  the  discussion  of  woman's  prayer-meet- 
ings in  saloons.     In  Hillsboro  and  Washington  Court  House,  where 


Women    Torch-bearers 


this  lecture  was  given,  the  women  rose  at  once  and  declared  they  were 
ready.  I  saw  the  hour  had  struck.  The  world  knows  the  story.  I 
have  not  a  doubt  that  the  women  of  America  will  rid  the  country  of 
dram-shops,  if  they  can  preserve  the  Christ-spirit  in  which  they  have 
begun,  continue  their  combined  movements  against  the  enemy,  give 
the  politicians  and  wise  men  a  wide  berth,  and  keep  themselves  in  the 
spirit  of  humble  prayer  before  God.' 

"Hatchets  played  a  conspicious  part  in  the  Crusade  story.  In  the 
popular  mind,  today.  Carry  A.  Nation  of  Kansas  alone  shares  with 
George  Washington  pictorial  hatchet  history. 

"It  is  happily  true  that  in  more  than  one  of  the  early  Crusades, 
hatchet  brigades  of  devout  praying  women  helped  answer  their  own 
praj^ers  for  the  utter  destruction  of  their  dread  enemy — intoxicating 
liquor.  One  instance  in  proof  must  suffice.  The  date  is  fifteen  years 
ahead  of  the  general  Crusade  movement  of  1874.  The  scene  isBarabco, 
Wisconsin,  described  by  the  narrator  of  the  phenomenal  story,  Mrs. 
W.  A.  Hartwell,  now  of  Milwaukee,  as  a  'most  charming  and  lovely 
village  looking  as  though  made  by  a  Master  artist,  in  a  great  workshop 
of  beauty.'  The  arch  enemy  of  the  home  entered  its  sylvan  borders,  and 
soon,  to  the  consternation  of  the  women,  three  groceries  and  two  hotels 
established  liquor  bars.  In  vain  the  women  prayed  and  plead  with  the 
business  men  of  the  town.  Homes  were  ruined,  and  terrible  crimes 
were  committed  by  men  under  alcohol's  influence.  Then  the  mothers, 
wives  and  daughters  'struck.'  Forty  women  of  the  influential  circles 
of  the  home  and  church — women  young  and  middle  aged — one  fair 
morning  in  May,  1859,  quietly  marched  down  the  main  street  of  the 
village — doubtless  appearing  to  the  men  as  harmless  as  a  flock  of  sheep. 
The  fashionable  outer  garment  of  that  period — the  shawl — furnished  a 
hiding  place  for  the  hatchets  borrowed  from  home  woodsheds.  Ham- 
mers also  were  tucked  away  ready  for  use  by  these  serene-faced  but 
militant  souls. 

"The  women,  well  versed  in  strategy  by  home  experience,  divided 
forces  at  each  point  visited,  and  they  called  at  the  widely  separated 
groceries  and  hotels  in  successive  and  undisturbed  regularity.  At  each 
point  of  attack,  half  the  women  engaged  the  proprietor  of  the  building 
in  conversation  and  heated  argument,  while  the  second  group  proceeded 
at  once  to  the  business  in  hand.  Cellars  were  entered,  kegs  of  beer 
rolled  out,  and  barrels  of  whisky  knocked  in.     As  the  liquor  gurgled 

10 


The     Woman's     Crusade 


into  the  street,  a  crowd,  suddenly  gathered,  sent  up  cheer  after  cheer  of 
encouragement  for  the  hatchet  brigade  and  its  effective  efforts.  Hus- 
bands and  lovers,  Mrs.  Hartwell  tells  us,  stood  in  the  background,  but 
never  lifted  their  voices  against  this  amazing  spectacle.  Mrs.  Hartwell, 
just  blossoming  into  young  womanhood,  ought  to  be  believed  when  she 
tells  us  that  lovers  were  there  enjoying  the  bravery  of  their  sweet- 
hearts. Some  of  the  men  with  thoughtful  mien  were  heard  to  remark, 
'Wouldn't  wonder  if  some  day  women  will  vote.' 

"An  exciting  public  meeting  was  held  that  night  in  the  village 
church.  No  one  uttered  an  adverse  word  about  the  forty  brave  women 
of  Baraboo.  Papers  were  numerously  signed  pledging  the  boycotting 
of  liquor-selling  groceries,  and  these  groceries  soon  went  out  of  the 
liquor  business. 

"No  officer  in  Baraboo  could  be  found  by  the  enraged  property 
losers  to  sign  a  warrant  for  the  arrest  of  the  women.  Fifteen  miles 
over  the  Baraboo  bluffs  the  saloon  men  travelled  and  in  the  tiny  hamlet 
of  Sauk  a  man  was  persuaded  to  sign  a  warrant.  The  women  were 
arrested  and  fined  $500.  Their  attorney  would  not  give  bail  and  the 
women  were  committed  to  the  Baraboo  jail.  Later,  they  were  released 
on  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  by  a  high-minded  county  judge  who  held 
them  to  bail  for  six  weeks,  saying  at  the  expiration  of  that  time  he  would 
announce  his  decision.  The  judge's  decision  that  the  defendants  had  not 
committed  a  crime  and  should  be  discharged,  was  rendered  in  a  crowded 
court-room.  Turning  to  the  attorney  for  the  liquor  men,  the  judge 
asked  if  he  wished  to  hear  the  reasons  on  which  this  decision  was  based. 
Quickly  came  the  illuminating  and  not  unexpected  reply — 'No.' 

"Today,  the  ballot  is  being  vigorously  used  by  the  Christian  women 
of  this  nation  to  annihilate  the  nullifiers  of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment 
— an  amendment  which  the  Crusaders  and  their  hatchets  helped  to  place 
in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Would  an  application  of  the 
real  hatchet  to  the  illegal  saloon,  where  one  exists,  speed  to  earlier  vic- 
tory the  present-day  struggle  of  the  temperance  forces? 

"On  December  14,  1873,  at  Fredonia,  New  York,  Dr.  Dio  Lewis 
made  his  inspiring  suggestion  that  women  should  enter  upon  a  crusade 
against  the  direst  foe  of  their  homes.  On  that  eventful  date,  cultured 
home  women,  two  hundred  and  eight  in  number,  with  prayer  and  song 
marched  two  by  two  into  the  saloons  and  hotel  barrooms  of  Fredonia. 
with  Mrs.  Esther  McNeil  as  their  devoted  leader.    What  is  more,  they 

11 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


organized,  the  following  day,  under  the  name.  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union,  and  are  justly  proud  of  thus  antedating  by  nearly 
a  5'ear  the  name  adopted  at  the  organizing  convention  of  the  National 
W,  C.  T.  U.,  November,  1874,  in  Cleveland,  Ohio.  Losing  sight  of 
this  background  of  isolated  instances  of  Crusade  bands  and  of  the 
fact  that  from  Hillsboro  and  Washington  Court  House,  Ohio,  the 
Crusade  fire  that  contagiously  spread  from  point  to  point  first  blazed 
forth,  we  are  justified  in  naming  Ohio  the  Crusade  State  because  of 
the  large  number  of  towns,  cities  and  villages  where  the  intrepid  pray- 
ing bands  of  women  successfully  carried  on  their  holy  warfare  against 
the  saloon. 

"When  Mrs.  Judge  Thompson  and  the  seventy  women  who  fol- 
lowed her,  solemly  marched  forth,  two  by  two,  from  the  Presbyterian 
church  at  Hillsboro,  Ohio,  December  23,  1873,  singing  'Give  to  the 
Winds  Thy  Fears,'  God's  hour  had  struck  for  the  beginning  of  the  end 
of  the  legalized  liquor  traffic  in  our  liberty-loving  republic." 

Do  not  these  Crusade  stories  picture  some  of  the  "greater  things" 
that  should  come  to  pass?  The  inspired  writers,  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke 
and  John,  have  given  to  all  ages  the  story  of  Christ's  gospel  of  "Peace 
on  Earth,  Good  Will  to  Men."  At  Christmas  time  in  America,  in 
1873,  the  echoes  of  that  song  reverberated  down  through  the  centuries, 
for  to  the  women  of  the  American  crusade  came  a  Divine  call — a  com- 
pelling commission  to  carry  to  all  nations  a  blessed  interpretation  and 
fulfillment  of  the  joyful  song  of  the  angels. 


12 


CHAPTER  II 
Mobilization  and  Organization 

It  was  a  victor.v-vision  that  initiated  and  invested  with  power  the 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union.  This  God-given  insight  came 
to  the  Crusaders  and  their  friends  who  attended  at  Chautauqua,  New 
York,  in  August,  1874,  the  National  Sunday  School  Assembly.  At  the 
suggestion  of  Mrs.  Mattie  McClellan  Brown,  a  committee  composed 
of  women  from  all  over  the  country  sent  out  a  call  for  a  national 
delegated  convention  to  meet  in  Cleveland,  Ohio.  This  official  invita- 
tion was  signed  by  Mrs.  Jennie  Fowler  Willing,  chairman,  and  Mrs. 
Emily  Huntington  Miller,  secretary.  God's  time  had  come  for  the 
deliverance  of  the  pitiful  victims  of  a  pitiless  liquor  traffic.  At  Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  November  18,  19  and  20,  1874,  the  National  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  was  organized  with  these  officers:  Presi- 
dent, Mrs.  Annie  AVittenmyer  of  Penns}']vania ;  corresponding  secre- 
tary. Miss  Frances  E.  Willard  of  Illinois;  recording  secretary,  Mrs. 
Mary  C.  Johnson  of  New  York;  treasurer,  Mrs.  W.  A.  Ingham  of 
Ohio.' 

Frances  E.  Willard  and  Mrs.  Mattie  McClellan  Brown  presented 
a  notable  plan  of  work,  Miss  Willard  writing  this  famous  resolution: 
"Resolved,  That,  recognizing  the  fact  that  our  cause  is,  and  will  be 
combated  by  mighty,  determined  and  relentless  forces,  we  will,  trusting 
in  Him  who  is  the  Prince  of  Peace,  meet  argument  with  argument,  mis- 
judgment  with  patience,  denunciation  with  kindness,  and  all  our  diffi- 
culties and  dangers  with  prayer." 

The  constitution  was  presented  by  Mrs.  J.  Ellen  Foster  of  Iowa, 
The  declaration  of  principles,  including  the  pledge  for  total  abstinence 
and  the  promise  to  work  against  the  traffic  in  alcoholic  liquors,  written 
by  Frances  E.  Willard,  was  a  new  Declaration  of  Independence — cre- 
ating a  higher  level  of  thought  for  American  manhood.  These  daugh- 
ters of  Puritan  foremothers,  inheriting  the  power  to  discern  spiritual 
values,  had  a  right  to  ask  that  under  the  guarantees  of  the  Federal  con- 
stitution their  homes  should  be  protected  from  the  iniquitous  liquor 
traffic  living  and  thriving  on  the  destruction  of  all  most  dear  to  them. 
With  ribaldry  and  sneers  the  liquor  men  had  written  and  talked 
of  the  Woman's  Crusade.  To  them  it  was  merely  an  absurd,  ephemeral 
movement  that  would  be  quickly  crushed  by  the  age-long  appetite  and 

13 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  a  rer  s 


avarice  of  men.  What  could  ballot-less  and  money-less  women  do 
against  a  business  entrenched  in  politics  and  in  partnership  with  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States?  This  advanced  step,  however,  this 
mobilization  of  American  womanhood,  this  determined  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.  brought  dismay  to  the  hearts  of  the  brewers  and  dis- 
tillers. Women  of  social  prestige  who  joined  this  new  organization 
met  ridicule  with  reverence.  Their  magna  charta  was  the  word  of 
God,  "The  way  of  the  wicked  shall  be  turned  upside  down."  Their 
work  was  religious  and  patriotic.  It  was  in  the  line  of  evolution  and 
also  of  revolution.  Their  issue  was  the  home,  church  and  state  versus 
the  liquor  traffic.  This  was  made  articulate  in  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  na- 
tional motto:  "For  God  and  Home  and  Native  Land."  In  answer 
to  the  question  so  often  asked  in  those  history  making  days — "What  is 
the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  ?" — this  was  the  comprehen- 
sive reply:  "It  is  an  organization  of  Christian  women  banded  to- 
gether for  the  protection  of  the  home,  the  abolition  of  the  liquor  traffic 
and  the  triumph  of  Christ's  Golden  Rule  in  custom  and  in  law;  and  it 
is  the  lineal  descendant  of  the  great  Woman's  Temperance  Crusade  of 
1873-1874." 

The  reasons  for  joining  the  organization  and  signing  the  total  ab- 
stinence pledge  are  given  in  this  Declaration  of  Principles,  written  by 
Frances  E.  Willard: 

"We  believe  in  the  coming  of  His  Kingdom  whose  service  is  perfect 
freedom,  because  His  laws,  written  in  our  members  as  well  as  in  nature 
and  in  grace,  are  perfect,  converting  the  soul. 

"We  believe  in  the  gospel  of  the  Golden  Rule,  and  that  each 
man's  habits  of  life  should  be  an  example  safe  and  beneficent  for  every 
other  man  to  follow. 

"We  believe  that  God  created  both  man  and  woman  in  His  own 
image,  and,  therefore,  we  believe  in  one  standard  of  purity  for  both 
men  and  women,  and  in  the  equal  right  of  all  to  hold  opinions  and  to 
express  the  same  with  equal  freedom. 

"We  believe  in  a  living  wage;  in  an  eight-hour  day;  in  courts  of 
conciliation  and  arbitration;  in  justice  as  opposed  to  greed  of  gain;  in 
'Peace  on  Earth  and  Good-will  to  Men.' 

"We,  therefore,  formulate  and  for  ourselves  adopt  the  following 
pledge,   asking  our  sisters   and   brothers   of   a  common   danger   and   a 


14 


Mobilization    an  d    Organization 

common  hope,  to  make  common  cause  with  us,  in  working  its  reason- 
able and  helpful  precepts  into  the  practice  of  everyday  life: 

"  'I  hereby  solemnly  promise,  God  helping  me,  to  abstain  from  al/ 
distilled,  fermented  and  malt  liquors,  including  wine,  beer  and  cider, 
and  to  employ  all  proper  means  to  discourage  the  use  of  and  traffic 
in  the  same.' 

"To  confirm  and  enforce  the  rationale  of  this  pledge,  we  declare 
our  purpose  to  educate  the  young;  to  form  a  better  public  sentiment; 
to  reform,  so  far  as  possible,  by  religious,  ethical  and  scientific  means, 
the  drinking  classes;  to  seek  the  transforming  power  of  Divine  grace 
for  ourselves  and  all  for  whom  we  work,  that  they  and  we  may  wil- 
fully transcend  no  law  of  pure  and  wholesome  living;  and  finally  we 
pledge  ourselves  to  labor  and  to  pray  that  all  these  principles,  founded 
upon  the  gospel  of  Christ,  may  be  worked  out  into  the  customs  of  society 
and  the  laws  of  the  land." 

Although  formulated  in  1874  this  Christian  Patriotic  Declaration 
is  still  a  maker  of  exalted  public  sentiment,  the  only  change  being  in 
the  pledge  which,  because  of  the  national  prohibition  victory,  now  reads: 

"I  hereby  solemnly  promise,  God  helping  me,  to  abstain  from  all 
distilled,  fermented  and  malt  liquors  including  wine,  beer,  and  cider, 
and  to  employ  all  proper  means  to  secure  the  enforcement  of  the 
Eighteenth  Amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution." 

During  the  administration  of  the  first  president,  Mrs.  Annie  Witten- 
myer,  who  had  been  prominent  for  years  in  church,  journalistic  and 
philanthropic  work,  twenty-three  states  were  organized  as  auxiliaries  to 
the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  and  a  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  paper  was 
founded.  Mrs.  Wittenmyer  worked  earnestly  for  the  society  in  all 
its  earlier  years.  She  also  labored  tirelessly  in  the  lecture  field,  speak- 
ing sometimes  six  evenings  in  the  week,  besides  traveling  hundreds  of 
miles.  She  attended  all  the  large  conventions,  of  which  forty-six  vvere 
held  in  1875.  One  of  the  notable  acts  which  characterized  her  admin- 
istration was  the  sending  of  a  letter  of  inquiry  to  the  International  / 
Medical  Association,  which  met  in  Philadelphia  in  the  summer  of  the 
Centennial  year.  This  led  to  a  hearing  before  a  committee  of  cele- 
brated physicians  of  Europe  and  our  country,  and  resulted  in  the  well- 
known  "resolutions"  expressive  of  the  most  important  medical  opinion 
against  intoxicants  on  record,  when  we  consider  the  representative  char- 
acter of  those  who  gave  it.     Still  another  ofilicial  act  was  the  holding 

15 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


n1 


of  the  first  "Woman's  National  Camp  Meeting"  at  Ocean  Grove,  New 
Jersey,  which,  conducted  wholly  and  addressed  largely  by  women,  com- 
manded the  earnest  attention  of  the  thousands  present,  and  was  equally 
remarkable  for  spiritual  and  intellectual  power. 

At  the  sixth  annual  convention  of  the  organization  held  in  Indian- 
apolis, Indiana,  in  1879,  Miss  Frances  E.  Willard  of  Evanston,  Illinois, 
was  elected  president.  Miss  Willard  was  free  to  accept  the  national 
position,  for  she  had  resigned  her  educational  responsibilities  as  Dean  of 
Women  and  Professor  of  Belles  Lettres  in  Northwestern  University. 
The  story  of  Frances  Willard's  career,  as  thrilling  as  romance,  is  admir- 
ably told  by  her  biographer,  Anna  A.  Gordon,  in  "The  Life  of  Frances 
E.  Willard,"  published  by  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  In  the  victory 
story  of  today,  only  the  high  points  in  the  life  of  this  notable  educator, 
traveler,  philanthropist,  organizer,  orator  and  seer  will  be  touched  upon. 
She  was  one  of  the  greatest  women  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

"All  history,"  says  Emerson,  "resolves  itself  into  the  biography  of 
a  few  stout  and  earnest  persons.  Their  success  lay  in  the  fact,  not  that 
they  were  born  great,  but  that  God's  thought  for  that  century  found  in 
them  an  unobstructed  channel  so  that  the  w^onders,  of  which  they  were 
the  visible  conductors,  seemed  to  the  eye,  their  deed.  That  which  to  an 
outsider  looked  like  will  and  immovableness  was  really  willingness  and 
self-annihilation."  The  greatest  need  of  the  world,  as  Elizabeth  Bar- 
rett Browning  has  said,  is 

"God's  light  organized 

In  some  high  soul  crowned  capable  to  lead 

The  conscious  people ;  conscious  and  advised ; 

To  plant  the  great  Hereafter  in  the  Now." 
In  the  eons  of  history,  as  the  thought  of  the  world  had  been  awakened 
by  a  Moses,  a  Columbus,  a  Luther,  a  Wesley,  a  Lincoln,  so  in  the  nine- 
teenth century  a  new  moral  and  spiritual  atmosphere  was  created  by 
Frances  E.  Willard.  "My  life  a  vow"  was  the  spirit  in  which  she 
faced  her  adventurous  task. 

The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  today  owes  largely  to 
Frances  Willard  the  organization  plans  that  are  carried  on  in  every 
state  and  territory  of  our  country,  and  in  fifty  nations  federated  in 
the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  Gifted  with  a  rare  imagination,  "that 
searchlight  of  the  soul,"  Miss  Willard  had  also  a  genius  for  construc- 


16 


Frances  E.  Willard 


Mobilization    and    Organization 

tive   detail  seldom  equalled.     With  inherited  pluck  and  a  Willard's 
(Will  Hard's)  will  she  wrought  out  her  world  vision. 

In  1876-7,  on  invitation  from  Mr.  Dwight  L.  Moody,  Miss  Willard 
assisted  him  for  several  months  in  his  gospel  work,  in  Boston.  In  un- 
dertaking this  enterprise,  she  hoped  that  the  temperance  work  might  be 
united  with  the  gospel  work,  and  with  it  be  brought  to  the  front.  The 
meetings  for  women,  filling  Berkeley  and  Park  Street  churches,  and 
her  words  before  the  thousands  gathered  in  the  great  Tabernacle,  are 
memorable. 

Mary  A.  Lathbury,  in  her  introduction  to  Frances  Willard's 
"Woman  and  Temperance,"  written  in  1883,  calls  attention  to  one  of 
Miss  Willard's  unfulfilled  desires:  "The  deepest  thought  and  desire 
of  my  life,"  said  Miss  Willard,  "would  have  been  met,  if  my  deal 
old  Mother  Church  had  permitted  me  to  be  a  minister.  The  wandering 
life  of  an  evangelist  or  a  reformer  comes  nearest  to,  but  cannot  fill,  the 
ideal  which  I  early  cherished,  but  did  not  expect  ever  publicly  to  con- 
fess. WTiile  I  heartily  sympathize  with  the  progressive  movement  which 
will  ere  long  make  ecclesiastically  true  our  Master's  words,  'There  is 
neither  male  nor  female  in  Christ  Jesus' ;  while  I  steadfastly  believe  that 
there  is  no  place  too  good  for  a  woman  to  occupy,  and  nothing  too 
sacred  for  her  to  do,  I  am  not  willing  to  go  on  record  as  a  misanthropic 
complainer  against  the  Church,  which  I  prefer  above  my  chief  joy."      \^/ 

Years  later,  Miss  Willard  gives  this  account,  so  interesting  to  young 
women,  of-  her  first  glimpse  of  Anna  A.  Gordon,  then  in  her  happy 
girlhood.  "On  my  going  to  conduct  the  women's  meetings  for  Mr. 
Moody  in  Boston,  in  1877,  there  was  no  one  to  play  the  cabinet  organ 
that  was  beside  my  desk  on  the  platform.  An  earnest  appeal  was  made, 
and  after  a  painful  pause  and  waiting,  a  slight  figure  in  black,  with  a 
little  music  roll  in  her  hand,  came  shyly  along  the  aisle  of  Berkeley 
Street  Church,  and  Anna  Gordon  gently  whispered,  *As  no  one  volun- 
teers, I  will  do  the  best  I  can.'  That  very  day  she  had  taken  her  first 
lesson  on  the  organ,  meaning  to  become  mistress  of  that  instrument. 

"She  had  just  attended  Mr.  Moody's  noon-meeting,  in  which  the 
text  had  been  'Whatsoever  He  saith  unto  you,  do  it,'  and  had  promised 
in  her  inmost  heart  that,  by  God's  grace,  she  would  try  to  do  helpful 
things  as  the  opportunity  offered,  and  behold,  the  very  first  'opportunity' 
was  to  come  forward  before  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  waiting  women, 

17 


Women    To  rc  h  -  b  e  a  r  e  r  s 


and  'start  the  tune.'     When  I  knew  these  things,  I  said  in  my  heart, 
'this  is  a  rare,  young  spirit.' 

"When  I  asked  Anna  Gordon  if  she  could  come  and  play  for  us 
every  day,  she  said  she  would  try,  and  I  soon  turned  over  my  letters, 
messages,  etc.,  to  her  faithful  care.  In  the  prompt  and  accurate  execu- 
tion of  commissions,  tactful  meeting  of  people,  skillful  style  in  corres- 
ponding, I  have  not  known  her  equal.  As  soon  as  the  meetings  were 
over,  she  had  a  lecture  trip  ready  for  me,  extending  all  through  New  . 
England.  "^ 

"For  fourteen  years  Anna  was  with  us  at  Rest  Cottage,  and  as  my 
blessed  mother  grew  older,  she  resigned  into  Anna's  hands  more  and 
more  of  the  care.  The  house  became  a  charming  place,  as  years  passed 
by,  and  I  was  able  to  do  more  to  make  it  the  home  I  wanted  it  to  be, 
chiefly  for  my  mother's  sake ;  then  dear  Mrs.  Thorpe  and  Mrs.  Ole 
Bull  of  Cambridge,  Mass.,  added  that  beautiful  room,  an  enlargement 
of  the  'Den,'  and  we  'set  our  house  in  order'  with  great  particularity 
when  we  expected  that  beautiful  woman,  Lady  Henry  Somerset." 

In  1881,  the  charming  but  conservative  women  of  the  "solid  south" 
were  enlisted  in  large  numbers  in  the  peaceful  war  of  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union.  On  this  first  southern  trip,  accompanied 
by  Anna  Gordon  and  sponsored  by  Mrs.  Sallie  Chapin  of  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  and  Mrs.  Georgia  Hulse  McLeod  of  Baltimore,  Mar\'- 
land,  Frances  Willard  made  the  white  ribbon  "Grod's  olive  branch  of 
peace."  Her  message,  her  faith  and  love,  and  her  warm  handclasp 
were  mighty  cohesive  forces.  "It  was  the  first  ray  of  hope  that  had 
come  into  our  lives  since  the  Civil  War,"  said  one  of  Miss  Willard's 
grateful,  gentle  hearers;  and  another,  a  cultured,  forceful  woman  who 
later  became  prominent  in  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  work,  enthusiastically 
exclaimed  to  a  friend,  "The  first  time  I  heard  Frances  Willard  I  lay 
awake  all  night  for  sheer  gladness.  It  was  a  wonderful  revelation  to 
me  that  such  a  woman  could  exist.     I  thanked  God  and  took  courage." 

Bishop  Stevens,  who  as  Colonel  Stevens,  commanded  the  battery 
that  fired  the  first  shot  on  Fort  Sumter,  introduced  Frances  Willard 
to  a  magnificent  audience  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and  thus  fired 
the  first  moral  shot  at  the  greatest  enemy  that  imperiled  the  southern 
homes.  In  his  gracious  speech,  he  said:  "Our  friend  tells  me  there 
were  three  reasons  why  she  was  almost  afraid  to  come  with  a  public 
message  to  the  south ;  first,  because  she  was  a  woman ;  secondly,  a  north- 

18 


Mobilization     and    Organization 

ern  woman  and  last  of  all,  a  temperance  woman.  We  warmly  welcome 
her,  for  she  brings  us  the  magic  initials,  W.  C.  T.  U.  Shall  we  not 
interpret  them  to  mean:  We  come  to  unite  the  north  and  the  south  j/ 
and  we  come  to  upset  the  liquor  traffic."  An  editor,  hearing  of  this 
remark,  said,  "The  W.  C.  T.  U.  is  certainly  a  womanly  organization, 
for  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  means  'Washing  contracts  taken  unconditionally,' 
and  the  white  ribbon  women  are  in  the  forefront  in  washing  the  stafns 
from  the  nation's  flag." 

The  writer  was  with  her  sister  and  Miss  Willard  on  this  memor- 
able trip  and  well  recalls  the  delighted  surprise  and  spontaneous  re- 
sponse of  the  men  and  women  in  Frances  Willard's  many  large  au- 
diences. In  Nashville,  Tennessee,  a  young  man  student  said  to  her, 
"Hundreds  of  people,  many  of  them  students,  are  here  tonight  out 
of  curiosity.  They  had  never  thought  it  possible  for  a  woman  to  speak 
so  superbly.  We  are  naturally  so  conservative  about  women,  but  as 
Miss  Willard  stands  before  us  tonight,  she  is  the  embodiment  of  the 
qualities  she  said  women  should  possess,  'womanliness  first — afterward 
what  you  will.'  She  seems  to  us  so  sisterly  and  so  motherly,  with  a 
divine  mind."  Realizing,  as  Miss  Willard  did,  the  extreme  prejudice 
of  the  south  against  women's  public  work  and  its  great  need  of  re- 
demption from  the  liquor  traffic,  she  humbly  sought  the  wisdom  that 
comes  from  God,  and  always  knelt  in  prayer  as  she  left  her  room  to 
meet  a  public  engagement.  At  the  next  national  convention,  held  in 
Washington,  D.  C,  when  southern  women  for  the  first  time  met  in 
counsel  with  their  northern  sisters,  they  enthusiastically  said  to  their 
beloved  leader  and  friend,  "We  have  enlisted  with  you  to  wage 
a  peaceful  war  for  God  and  Home  and  Native'  Land." 

A  unique  incident  that  occurred  during  one  of  Mrs.  Sallie  Chapin's 
organizing  trips  through  the  southern  states  shows  the  kindly  spirit 
that  in  religious  and  temperance  work  existed  between  the  white  and 
colored  races.  When  Mrs.  Chapin  had  finished  an  address  to  negroes, 
one  evening  in  a  state  not  far  from  her  own,  a  colored  minister  arose 
and  said,  "I  don't  care  what  state  claims  Mrs.  Chapin ;  these  Southern 
ladies  were  all  raised  in  our  laps.  They  are  of  us,  and  Mrs.  Chapin 
was  sent  an  angel  from  heaven,  to  talk  to  my  poor,  downtrodden  race 
and  to  raise  us  to  the  skies.  I  ain't  an  educated  man,  but  if  I  knew 
every  language  in  the  world,  all  put  together,  I  would  not  know 
words  enough  to  express  our  love  and  gratitude.     We  will,  in  a  body, 

19 


Women    To  rc  h  -  b  e  are  r  s 


promise  you,  Mrs.  Chapin,  to  work  for  prohibition,  ma'am;  we  will 
follow  you  all  over  the  world  with  our  prayers,  go  where  you  will; 
you  won't  be  able  to  get  out  of  the  reach  of  them,  and  we  will,  God 
helping  us,  meet  you  in  Heaven." 

In  one  year,  1882-1883,  these  pioneers  traveled  30,000  miles,  visited 
all  the  large  cities  and  towns  of  10,000  inhabitants  of  the  country,  and 
organized  state  and  local  unions.  Always  Miss  Willard  averred  that 
without  Anna  Gordon's  devotion,  versatility  and  aid  in  speaking,  she 
could  not  have  carried  out  so  successfully  her  program  of  organiza- 
tion. What  wonderful  trips  they  had  in  the  twenty-one  years  of  com- 
radeship, and  into  how  many  families  and  churches  they  carried  the 
thought  that  "only  the  Golden  Rule  of  Christ  can  bring  the  Golden 
Age  of  man."  How  many  hardships  they  happily  endured !  The  princi- 
ples of  total  abstinence  for  the  individual,  and  prohibition  for  the  state 
and  nation,  were  from  the  first  reiterated;  also  the  plans  for  mem- 
bership, and  "dry"  campaigns,  for  petition  work,  for  woman  suf- 
frage, and  for  legislative  and  congressional  hearings  and  bills.  Frances 
Willard  was  a  pioneer  in  all  these  lines.  It  was  she  who  first  sug- 
gested scientific  temperance  instruction  in  the  public  schools  and  quar- 
terly temperance  lessons  in  the  Sunday  Schools.  Always  she  emphasized 
the  importance  of  work  among  young  people  and  boys  and  girls. 
She  initiated  child  welfare  and  social  morality  measures,  reached  out 
a  welcoming  hand  to  foreign-speaking  people  and  endeavored  to  secure 
justice  and  better  living  conditions  for  women  and  children  in  in- 
dustry. 

On  this  nation-wide  trip,  unprecedented  in  the  annals  of  woman- 
kind, these  pioneers  were  makers  of  American  history.  "Across  the 
Continent,"  letters  to  The  Union  Signal,  narrated  racy  and  patriotic 
incidents,  and  providentially,  no  accidents.  In  her  first  travel  notes 
to  The  Union  Signal  in  March,  1883,  Miss  Willard  writes,  "As  our 
train  rolls  over  these  Missouri  plains,  this  line  sings  itself  in  my  heart: 
'No  pent  up  Utica  contracts  our  powers 
But  lo!  the  whole  broad  continent  is  ours.' 

"This  seems  to  me  the  genius  of  our  beloved  W.  C.  T.  U.  and 
I  gladly  work  on  the  circumference  of  its  widening  circle  during  these 
years  of  my  prime,  anticipating  with  not  infrequent  desire  the  future 
years  when  I  hope  to  work  nearer  its  center." 


20 


Mobilization    and    Organization 

The  travelers  were  royally  dealt  with  by  the  St.  Louis  ladies  and 
Miss  Willard  by  her  addresses  added  largely  to  the  membership. 
She  was  delighted  with  a  lecture  by  Prof.  William  T.  Harris,  who  by 
invitation  of  the  notable  author,  Louisa  May  Alcott,  then  secretary  of 
the  Concord,  (Mass.)  W.  C.  T.  U.,  was  writing  a  scientific  temper- 
ance textbook. 

As  our  white  ribboners  sped  along  over  the  continent,  they  were 
purifying  the  springs  of  human  life.  Like  the  torch  bearers,  of  whom 
the  celebrated  poet,  Alfred  Noyes,  has  so  brilliantly  written,  Frances 
Willard  was  lighting  many  torches  as  she  won  the  hearts  of  hundreds 
of  women,  saying  to  them,  "Mother  love  works  magic,  but  organized 
mother  love  works  miracles." 

Enroute  from  Sante  Fe  to  Tucson,  Frances  Willard  wrote:  "At 
Trinidad,  Colorado,  we  found  Professor  Henry  E.  Gordon  (brother 
of  Anna),  a  graduate  of  Amherst  College  and  principal  of  the  New 
West  Commission  Academy.  He  introduced  me  to  a  genuine  cowboy, 
and  I  was  indeed  glad  to  rectify  my  opinion  of  a  class  much  mis- 
understood by  the  east.  He  loves  a  free,  outdoor  life  above  all  things — 
yet  he  is  bound  to  make  himself  the  heir  of  the  ages  as  well,  so  he 
studies  with  Prof.  Gordon."  Here  a  W.  C.  T.  U.  and  a  Band  of 
Hope  were  organized.  Continuing  that  journey,  the  travelers  reached 
Santa  Fe  and  were  entertained  in  the  pleasant  home  of  Mrs.  William 
Breeden,  wife  of  the  State's  Attorney.  A  saloon  on  an  advantageous 
corner  was  called  the  health  office;  another  the  senate,  and  a  third, 
the  little  church.  "Could  ghastly  travesty  go  further?"  Miss  Willard 
wrote.  "Whitin  University"  named  for  Mrs.  John  C.  Whitin  of 
Massachusetts,  who  helped  to  set  it  literally  "on  its  feet"  was  visited, 
also  the  Presidio  or  old  palace  where  Gen.  Lew  Wallace  finished  writing 
that  matchless  book,  "Ben  Hur."  At  Albuquerque  a  thriving  W.  C. 
T.  U.  was  organized. 

Pioneer  traveling  had  its  delightful  surprises,  as  well  as  its  unsus- 
pected dangers.  Miss  Willard  possessed  an  unusual  gift  of  racy  humor 
and  insight.  No  difficulty  could  daunt  her,  and  in  her  search  for  a 
new  world  of  vital  morality  she  "sailed  on  and  on,"  ever  overcoming 
prejudice  and  injustice;  and  as  Anna  Gordon's  heritage  was  one  of 
joy,  delight  in  music,  poetry,  scenery  and  little  children,  the  days  of 
travel  were  never  monotonous.  Years  after,  in  one  of  her  merriest 
moods,  Mi§s  Willard  wrote  thus  of  her  cherished  traveling  bag:  "There 

21 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  ar  e  r  s 


isn't  a  particle  of  humbug  about  it.  All  through  these  many  years  it 
has  gone  its  way  in  varied  climates  and  has  met  adverse  circumstances ; 
it  has  been  evilly  and  despitefully  treated,  used  as  a  footstool,  a  writing 
desk,  a  pillow;  it  has  patiently  disgorged  thousands  of  letters,  postals 
and  documents,  but  it  survives,  and  I  deem  it  the  fittest  of  all  sur- 
vivals to  me  personally  known."  Often,  as  she  encountered  new  ex- 
periences, there  came  to  Miss  Willard  a  keen  remembrance  of  the 
happy  years  of  overseas  travel.  She  was  eager  to  see  and  know  ev- 
erybody and  everything — unchanged  from  the  old  days  when  a  girl, 
standing  in  the  barn  door  of  Forest  Home,  she  said  to  her  sweet 
younger  sister,  Mary,  "Shall  we  ever  go  anywhere,  know  anything, 
or  see  anybody?"  In  Tucson,  for  ten  j^ears  the  capital  of  Arizona,  a 
W.  C.  T.  U.  was  organized,  and  early  in  May  the  travelers  arrived 
at  Los  Angeles. 

"We  are  at  last  in  the  land  of  enchantment,"  Miss  Willard  wrote, 
"where  heliotrope  climbs  all  over  the  fronts  of  the  houses ;  where  corn 
grows  seventeen  feet  high,  and  one  can  have  a  bouquet  of  fresh  roses 
and  a  strawberry  shortcake  on  the  table  all  the  year  round.  We  are 
with  people  as  genial  as  the  climate,  and  breathe  an  air  that  makes 
wine  seem  more  than  ever  an  unnecessary  and  absurd  exhilaration.  The 
dignified  president,  and  the  keen  brained  secretary  of  the  California 
W.  C.  T.  U.,  came  five  hundred  miles  to  meet  us.  The  big  hearted 
Californians  have  given  us  a  most  generous  reception.  The  mayor  of 
Los  Angeles,  at  our  first  meeting,  welcomed  us  on  behalf  of  the  town, 
the  clergy  on  behalf  of  the  church,  and  the  Good  Templars  for  the 
grand  lodge  of  the  state.     Blessings  on  them  all!" 

In  addresses  given  in  the  east  later  on.  Miss  Willard  was  wont 
to  draw  lessons  from  a  scene  which  was  an  incident  of  her  wonderful 
trip  to  the  Yosemite  Valley.  As  she  rounded  "Inspiration  Point"  with 
a  party  of  holiday  Methodists,  the  greatest  vision  she  had  ever  seen 
opened  to  her  view.  All  her  hopes  had  been  realized.  She  said,  "I 
have  seen  Niagara,  but  then  the  lips  moved  and  comments  passed,  but 
before  that  wondrous  Yosemite  Valley  view,  where  God  had  seemed 
to  condense  in  such  a  wonderful  degree  His  loveliness  and  beauty,  one 
involuntarily  paid  the  highest  homage — the  silence  that  is  golden." 
Then,  with  an  expression  of  intense  sympathy,  she  exclaimed,  "Never 
before  have  I  been  so  sorry  for  the  people  who  are  blind."     She  often 


22 


Esther  Pugh,   Lillian   M.   N.  Stevens    (standing) 
Caroline  B.   Buell,   Frances  E.  Willard,  Mary  A.  Woodbridge 


Mobilization     and    Organization 


stated  that  the  temperance  reform  was  a  moral  Yosemite  and  marked 
the  antitheses  in  strikingly  beautiful  descriptions. 

In  San  Jose,  California's  "garden  city,"  Miss  Willard's  visit  was 
the  event  of  the  season.  It  seemed  a  sort  of  poetic  and  practical  justice 
that  in  the  auditorium  where  a  recent  political  convention  had  pledged, 
at  the  behest  of  whisky,  the  repeal  of  the  Sunday  law  of  the  state, 
•the  foremost  champion  among  women  for  temperance  should  protest 
in  the  name  of  the  women  of  California;  and  protest  she  did,  with 
cogency  of  argument,  originality  of  illustration,  and  chasteness  of 
rhetoric.  Her  keen  satire,  vehement  censure,  trenchant  reasoning  and 
impassioned  appeals  were  accompanied  with  a  womanly  grace  and  dig- 
nity that  convinced  the  intellects  and  won  the  hearts  of  the  people. 
One  thousand  dollars  was  received  in  collections  at  the  meetings  held 
in  California,  but  Miss  Willard  generously  left  it  all  to  the  state 
W.  C.  T.  U.  to  be  used  in  strengthening  the  unions  she  had  organized, 

"Beautiful  for  situation  and  a  generation  hence,  the  joy  of  this 
noble  republic,  is  Puget  Sound,"  wrote  Miss  Willard  four  months  after 
leaving  Boston.  "Welcome,  Puget  Sound,  with  its  fathomless  land- 
locked blue  and  the  imperial  presence  of  such  snow-clad  mountains 
as  are  found  nowhere  else,  no,  not  in  Switzerland.  Here  is  the  Pacific 
cowed  and  conquered,  purring  like  a  tamed  tiger  at  the  seat  of  these 
young  cities.  No  one  can  appreciate  the  transformation  save  those 
who,  like  ourselves,  have  experienced  the  untold  miseries  of  the  voyage 
between  San  Francisco  and  Astoria,  Oregon.  We  are  happy  to  have 
been  borne  hither  on  'that  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men,  which  taken 
at  the  flood,  leads  on  to  fortune.'  There  is  a  boom  on  every  hand. 
Henry  Villard  has  just  been  here,  the  magic  railway  king  of  the  North- 
ern Pacific,  a  branch  of  which  will  visit  every  leading  town  upon  these 
lovely  shores." 

The  new  Northwest  was  a  wonderland  to  the  travelers.  As  a 
girl,  Frances  Willard  had  been  thrilled  with  the  story  of  the  adven- 
turous pioneer  missionary,  Marcus  Whitman,  who  saved  ''for  the 
United  States  the  "Oregon  Country,"  now  the  three  states  of  Oregon, 
Washington  and  Idaho.  Miss  Willard  realized  that  she  and  the 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  were  beneficiaries  of  Mr. 
Whitman's  genius.  Early  settlers  told  Miss  Willard  of  his  splendid 
missionary  and  temperance  work  with  the  Indians  and  of  his  heroic 
mid-winter   horse-back   ride   of   4,000   miles   from   the   Valley   of   the 

23 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


Columbia  to  Washington,  D.  C,  a  ride  for  life  or  death  rivaling  in 
historic  interest  that  of  the  renowned  Paul  Revere.  \Vhitman,  this 
martyred  man  of  destiny,  was  imbued  with  an  unselfish  love  of  hu- 
manity and  devotion  to  his  country.  His  aim  was  to  reach  Congress 
before  adjournment.  After  weeks  of  floundering  through  mountains, 
snowdrifts  and  dangerous  ravines,  encountering  savage  beasts  or 
savage  men,  he  reached  Washington,  D.  C,  March  3,  1843.  Suffering 
with  frozen  limbs  and  clothed  in  torn  fur  garments  and  leather 
breeches,  he  stood,  a  tragic  and  dignified  figure,  before  the  President 
of  the  United  States.  His  story  was  a  complete  refutation  of  the 
statements  of  senators,  and  representatives,  who  having  no  patriotic 
vision,  had  asserted,  "The  Rocky  Mountains  are  an  impassable  barrier 
whose  bases  are  skirted  with  deserts  of  irreclaimable  land."  "I  will 
never  vote  one  cent  to  place  the  Pacific  Coast  one  inch  nearer  to  Boston 
than  it  is  now."  "The  people  of  the  Pacific  and  those  on  the  Atlantic 
can  never  live  under  the  same  government."  So  successful  was  Whit- 
man's appeal  that  a  treaty  was  consummated  with  Great  Britain,  and 
on  August  5,  1845,  the  great  Northwest  came  under  the  American 
flag. 

"Our  Whitman  rode  to  save 

New  stars  for  freedom's  bannner. 

Three  stars  he  added  to  that  flag  of  fame. 

And  won  an  empire  and  a  deathless  name." 

As  a  Christian  statesman,  Miss  Willard  so  often  said  that  a  stu- 
dent of  history  is  always  an  optimist.  She  well  remembered  the 
emigration  of  1,000  people  from  the  east  that  followed  Whitman's 
visit  to  Washington,  and  in  her  imagination  pictured  the  scene,  as 
with  125  wagons,  1,000  head  of  cattle,  sheep  and  horses,  these  venture- 
some people  reached  the  top  of  the  Rockies  and  viewed  the  Pacific 
Slope.  Entertained  throughout  her  trip,  in  simple  but  delightful  homes. 
Miss  Willard  realized  that  she  was  meeting  with  descendants  of  that 
memorable  eastern  emigration  of  1843  who  adventured,  not  for  selfish 
trade,  but  for  godly  homes.  Pondering  on  the  tremendous  difficulties 
overcome  by  Whitman  in  his  journeys,  and  especially  in  his  dealings 
with  Congress,  Miss  Willard  took  courage  for  her  seemingly  insuper- 
able task.  In  her  heart  of  hearts,  "a  fire  burned  for  a  beacon  light." 
Like  Sacajawea,  the  Indian  princess,  who,  at  sixteen,  with  her  baby 
on  her  back,  led  brave  pioneers  through  trackless  forests  to  this  un- 

24 


Mobilization    and    Organization 

claimed  country,  so  Frances  Willard,  possessing  the  brain  and  brawn 
of  her  distinguished  pilgrim  ancestors,  resolved,  with  God's  help,  to 
point  out  to  these  privileged  people  living  in  the  Valle)^  of  the  Columbia 
a  still  higher  civilization,  the  only  sure  way  of  protection  for  their 
homes. 

The  fine  tem.perance  influence  of  these  eastern-western  pioneers  is 
typified  in  the  story  of  an  Indian  boy  who  had  received  instruction  in 
one  of  their  schools.  In  a  village  conference  on  the  licensing  of  a 
saloon  he  was  given  a  chance  to  speak  and  said,  "One  thing  I  must 
have  put  on  paper — that  you  white  men  no  more  sell  Indians  rum. 
White  man  makes  it  heself ;  he  must  drink  it  heself."  In  the  territory 
of  Oregon,  early  in  its  history,  a  prohibitory  law  was  passed,  but 
later,  through  the  efforts  of  unscrupulous  liquor  politicians,  was  re- 
pealed. A  prominent  minister  met  an  emigrant  family  going  west. 
On  one  of  the  wagons  there  hung  a  jug  with  the  bottom  knocked  out. 
"What  is  that?"  asked  the  doctor.  "Why,  it's  my  Taylor  jug,"  said 
the  man.  "And  what  is  a  Taylor  jug?"  asked  the  doctor  again.  "I  had 
a  son  in  General  Taylor's  army  in  Mexico  and  the  general  always  told 
him  to  carry  his  whisky  jug  with  a  hole  in  the  bottom;  and  that's  it. 
It  is  the  best  invention  I  ever  met  with  for  hard  drinkers." 

"I  never  knew  nobler  women  than  those  of  Oregon,"  wrote  Miss 
Willard  in  June.  'Tortland  wag  the  storm  center  of  a  wonderful 
crusade  in  '74.  We  have  grand  audiences,  over  ninety  delegates,  and 
a  delightful  Band  of  Hope  meeting,  in  whose  procession  of  children 
marched  a  dear  old  soldier,  one  hundred  years  old,  carrying  his  banner 
side  by  side  with  the  boy  whose  drum  taps  guided  the  long  procession 
into  the  church.  Anna  Gordon  organized  a  large  Y.  W.  C.  T.  U., 
addressed  the  convention,  and  also  spoke  to  the  Band  of  Hope.  The 
convention  was  one  of  deep  spiritual  power." 

In  Seattle,  the  beautiful  town  terminus  of  the  Northern  Pacific, 
the  first  general  temperance  convention  ever  called  in  Washington 
territory  was  held.  Delegates  came  from  twenty-five  towns;  seventy- 
nine  gCHtlemen  and  one  hundred  and  five  ladies.  A  W.  C.  T.  U.  for 
the  territory  was  organized  and  a  Christian  Voters'  League  that  de- 
clared for  "prohibition  straight"  and  the  "full  ballot  for  women." 
The  leading  pastors  and  the  mayors  of  the  respective  cities — Olympia, 
New  Tacoma,  Seattle  and  Port  Townsend — were  among  those  who 
gave  God-speed  to  the  messengers  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 

25 


Women    Torch-bearers 


As  nature  had  divided  the  territory  by  the  Cascade  Mountains, 
it  was  thought  best  to  have  two  separate  state  organizations.  A  two 
days'  convention  at  Cheney  resulted  in  the  organization  of  a  W.  C. 
T.  U.  for  eastern  Washington,  as  the  convention  at  Seattle  gave  a 
western  division.  Attendance  at  Cheney  was  good,  representatives  com- 
ing from  Walla  Walla,  Colfax,  Spokane  Falls,  Deep  River,  Medical 
Lake  and  elsewhere.  "All  hail,  bright  young  stars  of  the  new  North- 
west!" wrote  Miss  Willard. 

In  her  official  letter,  Miss  Willard  tells  of  an  interesting  adventure 
that  occurred  in  Lewiston,  Idaho.  Leaving  the  railroad  at  Texas 
Ferry,  the  travelers  took  the  pleasant  steamer,  "John  Gates,"  for  an 
eighty-mile  trip  up  the  Snake  River  to  Lewiston,  the  oldest  town  in 
Idaho.  In  their  roomy  stateroom,  especially  reserved  and  the  best  on 
the  boat,  they  wrote  letters,  articles,  and  read  with  infinite  zest  the 
"Letters  and  Memorials  of  Jane  Welsh  Carlyle,"  prepared  for  publi- 
cation by  her  unique  husband.  "A  more  breezy,  zestful,  pungently 
flavored  book  I  have  not  whetted  my  literary  appetite  upon  in  many 
a  year,"  wrote  Frances  Willard.  "Jane  Carlyle  is  as  refreshing  as 
Puget  Sound's  salt  flavored  air.  Mount  Hood's  August  zephyrs,  or  the 
cherries  in  an  Oregon  temperance  woman's  garden." 

On  reaching  Lewiston,  Miss  Willard  heard  that  the  city  authori- 
ties, taking  advantage  of  a  diphtheria  scare  that  was  abating,  had  for- 
bidden all  public  meetings — just  two  days  before  the  long-time  adver- 
tised date  on  which  Frances  Willard  was  to  speak.  Leading  citizens 
declared  that  this  action  had  its  animus  in  the  liquor  traffic.  How- 
ever, not  to  arouse  antagonism,  it  was  resolved  to  heed  the  admonition. 
In  the  parlors  of  a  noble-hearted  Presbyterian  lady,  the  leading  women 
of  the  city  assembled,  and  after  earnest  waiting  upon  God,  proceeded 
to  organize  the  convention,  adopt  a  constitution,  and  select  the  officers. 
When  it  was  time  for  the  travelers  to  return  to  the  boat,  the  whole 
convention  packed  the  coach. 

Everyw^here,  the  travelers  were  greeted  with  wonderful  floral  dec- 
orations,— mottoes,  arches,  banks,  pyramids,  symbolic  designs — and  all 
in  flowers.  In  New  Tacoma,  a  beautiful  arch  was  placed  over  the 
entrance  to  the  Opera  House  with  a  motto,  "God  Speed  Temper- 
ance," and  nobody  interfered  with  it.  One  of  the  features  in  all  the 
meetings  in  the  "New  Northwest"  was  the  amazing  number  of  babies 

26 


%. 


Campaigning  in  Colorado,  in  1924  (above) 
Pioneering  in  Montana,  in  1883 


Mobilization     and    Organization 

present.  Indeed,  no  sight  was  so  familiar  as  the  young  parents  enter- 
ing church,  or  hall,  the  father  gently  carrying  his  little  one. 

Bishop  Hargraves  of  the  M.  E.  Church  South,  had  it  about  right 
when  he  said,  "Montana  has  barely  enough  valleys  to  slip  in  between 
its  hills."  Never  was  a  territory  more  aptly  named.  For  beauty  of 
railway  scenery,  Frances  Willard  thought  no  country  furnished  any- 
thing superior  to  the  panorama  between  Spokane  Falls  and  Missoula, 
Montana,  on  the  spick  and  span  new  Northern  Pacific.  At  Spokane 
Falls  about  this  time,  when  a  division  of  the  railroad  hands  on  this 
splendid  Northern  Pacific  road  was  paid  off,  $6,000  of  their  money 
within  fifteen  days  was  in  the  tills  of  the  saloons.  Learning  this  dis- 
tressing fact.  Miss  Willard  emphasized  in  her  addresses  the  economic 
value  of  prohibition. 

The  travelers  left  Missoula  late  in  July,  in  a  covered  conveyance, 
for  Helena  and  Deer  Lodge — a  distance  of  182  miles.  Rev.  William 
Shannon,  his  wife  and  little  girl  thirteen  months  old,  accompanjang 
them.  Mr.  Shannon  had  sent  the  conveyance  ahead  the  night  before — 
eighteen  miles  beyond  Missoula — as  the  railroad  authorities  had  kind- 
ly permitted  the  party  to  ride  on  the  construction  train  to  that  point, 
the  western  terminus  of  the  great  iron  track.  Here  they  clambered  into 
the  wagon  behind  the  unmated  steeds  loaned  from  two  separate  estab- 
lishments, packed  away  big  box,  little  box,  bandbox  and  bundle  almost 
to  the  overflowing  point,  and  set  out  "overland." 

With  the  morning  they  started  on  their  third  day's  riding,  passing 
the  place  where  a  few  days  previous  the  robbers  sacked  a  stage  and 
killed  a  horse.  On  the  fourth  day,  they  saw  the  logs  beside  the  road 
from  behind  which,  not  twenty-four  hours  earlier,  three  masked  men 
had  pointed  guns  at  the  stage  load,  and  afterward  a  private  conveyance, 
making  them  stand  and  deliver.  Perhaps,  it  was  on  the  principle,  ''They 
that  know  nothing  fear  nothing,"  anyhow.  Miss  Willard  and  her 
party  went  on  their  way  rejoicing.  They  reached  their  destination 
without  accident  and  took  the  scenic  route — only  five  months  old — 
across  the  continent.  Two  meetings  were  held  on  Sunday  in  Ogden, 
Utah,  and  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  re-organized.  When  the  travelers 
reached  the  Mormon  capital,  a  true-hearted  band  of  women  met  them. 
The  territorial  W.  C.  T.  U.,  which  had  disbanded,  was  reorganized. 

During  this  epochal  year,  1883,  Miss  Willard  and  Miss  Gordon, 
with  their  shining  torches,  kindled  the  flame  of  truth  in  hundreds  of 

27 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


homes,  winning  the  hearts  and  memberships  of  a  host  of  women.  At 
the  tenth  annual  meeting  held  in  Detroit,  Michigan,  Miss  Willard 
etched  on  the  receptive  minds  of  her  hearers,  a  vivid  word-picture  of 
this  memorable  nation-wide-travel  when,  triumphantly,  she  said:  "The 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  was  never  weak,  but  it  is  a 
giant  now!  The  Pacific  coast,  the  New  Northwest,  and  the  South,  are 
all  with  us  today.  But  yesterday,  Mary  A.  Livermore  of  Massa- 
chusetts, sent  to  Sallie  F.  Chapin  of  South  Carolina,  our  forces  being 
assembled  in  both  states,  this  telegraphic  message:  'If  your  heart  is 
as  our  heart,  give  us  thy  hand.*  Back  came  the  message  from  our 
gifted  southern  leader:  'For  God  and  Home  and  Native  Land,  we'll 
give  you  both  our  heart  and  hand.'  The  W.  C.  T.  U.,  headed  by  Mary 
A.  Woodbridge,  Mary  T.  Lathrap,  Clara  C.  Hoffman,  Lillian  M. 
N.  Stevens,  Mary  Allen  West,  and  a  host  of  others  cannot  go  forth 
in  vain.  In  my  thoughts  I  always  liken  our  organization  to  Joan  of 
Arc.  Evermore  she  heard  and  heeded  heavenly  voices  and  God  grant 
that  we  hear  and  heed  them  evermore." 

Local  organizations,  veritable  W.  C.  T.  U.  telegraph  stations,  mul- 
tiplied. From  town  to  town  womanly  women  wearing  the  white 
ribbon  agitated,  educated  and  organized.  As  organizers,  lecturers  and 
evangelists  each  had  the  same  live  message.  Inevitably,  they  created, 
almost  unconsciously,  an  interdenominational  and  inter-organization 
fellowship  and  an  intersectional  spirit.  They  were  the  first  organ- 
ization of  women  to  walk  in  this  broad  path.  "Together,"  Edward 
Everett  Hale  said,  "is  one  of  the  strongest  words  in  the  English  lan- 
guage," and  in  co-operation  with  chivalrous  men  who  were  educational, 
church  and  business  leaders,  and  pastors,  astonishing  temperance  senti- 
ment was  created,  even  conservative  public  opinion  favoring  the  pro- 
tection of  the  home  and  children.  The  charm  of  many  of  the  meetings 
held  under  the  auspices  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  their  homelikeness. 
This  quality,  already  enriching  religious  work,  was  destined  to  come 
helpfully  into  government.  These  women  believed,  as  Mrs.  Harriet 
Beecher  Stowe  divinely  put  it,  "Whatever  ought  to  happen  is  going 
to  happen." 

The  intrepid  white  ribbon  leaders  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  second  to  none, 
lost  no  opportunity  to  present  their  ideals  before  civic  officials  and 
state  and  national  legislators. 

28 


Mobilization    and    Organization 


Miss  Willard,  seeing  that  women  were  being  translated  from  the 
passive  to  the  active  voice  said,  "It  seems  to  me  our  Heavenly  Father 
trusts  us  just  as  fast  and  as  far  as  He  can.  Brains  clean  from  al- 
coholic fumes  and  brains  unperturbed  by  the  fever  of  this  transition 
age,  alone  can  carry  the  success  of  the  co-operative  forces  by  which 
we  shall  yet  change  the  old  proverb  'each  for  himself  and  the  devil 
take  the  hindmost'  to  'each  for  the  other  that  there  may  be  no  hind- 
most for  the  devil  to  take.' 

"The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  is  to  my  thought  but 
a  vast  and  growing  net-work  of  telegraph  lines,  along  M^hich  fly  swift 
and  blessed  messages,  transmitted  by  that  divine  spirit  whose  central 
battery  is  the  heart  of  Christ.  Slow,  difficult  and  adventurous  as  is 
the  work  of  building  these  lines,  establishing  the  stations,  enlisting  and 
teaching  the  operators,  one  forgets  the  hardship  in  remembering  what 
are  the  messages  and  whence  they  come  throbbing  over  the  wires  with 
their  sweet  'Peace  on  Earth,  Good  Will  to  Men.'  " 

In  ten  years,  the  Crusade  praying  bands,  intense,  intrepid,  inspired, 
had  become  not  only  in  name  but  in  reality,  the  National  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union — steadfast,  patient,  far-reaching  in  pur- 
pose and  plan. 


29 


CHAPTER  III 

The  Fight  for  a  Olear  Brain 

It  was  through  her  unusual  power  to  see  that  every  sociological, 
business,  educational  and  legislative  question  has  its  temperance  aspect, 
and  her  persuasive  power  to  make  others  see  this  truth,  that  Frances 
Willard  evolved  her  "Do  Everything  Policy" — in  reality  initiating  the 
sj'stem  of  department  work.  In  this  unprecedented  vision  she  was  like 
Ruskin  who  said,  "One  of  the  greatest  things  a  human  soul  ever  does 
in  this  world  is  to  see  something,  and  tell  what  it  sees  in  a  plain  way." 
Imbued  with  this  power  of  seeing  the  truth,  thousands  of  white  rib- 
bon women  who  understood  the  art  of  progressive  planning  and  con- 
structive conversation,  invested  their  time  in  systematic  work  that 
helped  to  give  all  classes  of  society  a  new  concept  of  human  values. 
Because  it  was  Christianity  applied,  the  plan  of  the  "Do  Everything 
Policy"  was  eagerly  followed.  It  was  an  evolution  as  inevitable  as  any 
traced  by  the  biologist,  or  described  by  the  historian.  The  fight  for 
a  clear  brain  was  an  inclusive,  as  well  as  a  peaceful  warfare.  All 
temperance  activities  of  men  and  women  previous  to  the  organization 
of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  had  been  conducted  in  one  straight  line — contact 
with  the  drink  maker  and  the  drinker.  A  scientific  age  required  study 
of  this  subject  in  its  correlations;  and  Frances  Willard's  plan  allied 
the  W.  C.  T.  U.  with  all  other  moral  forces.  This  resulted  in  the 
gradual  adoption  of  forty  departments  of  work  under  the  six  general 
lines: — Preventive,  Educational,  Evangelistic,  Social  and  Legislative — 
besides  the  department  of  Organization ;  two  important  branches  formed 
were  the  Young  Woman's  Branch  and  the  Loyal  Temperance  Legion. 

"Everything  is  not  in  the  temperance  reform,  but  the  temperance 
reform  should  be  in  everything" — a  statement  giving  the  pith  of  the 
new  policy,  was  a  compelling  ideal.  As  the  white  ribboners,  praying, 
persuading,  educating  and  electrifying,  accelerated  the  pace  of  public 
opinion  they  saw  on  the  banner  lifted  aloft  by  their  leader,  the  winged 
watch-word,  "The  fight  for  a  clear  brain  is  a  fight  for  Christianit.v." 

"A  one-sided  movement,"  Frances  Willard  often  said,  ''makes  one- 
sided advocates.  Total  abstinence  is  not  the  crucial  virtue  in  life  that 
excuses  financial  crookedness,  defamation  of  character,  or  habits  of  im- 
purity. We  have  known  persons  who  (because  they  had  never  touched 
a  drop  of  liquor)   set  themselves  up  as  if  they  belonged  to  the  royal 

30 


The     Fight     for    a     Clear    Brain 

line,  but  whose  tongues  were  as  corroding  as  alcohol  itself  and  whose 
narrowness  had  no  competitor  save  a  straight  line."  In  answering, 
years  later,  some  who  controverted  her  famous  "Do  Everything  Policy" 
Miss  Willard  gave  this  enlightening  reply,  "When  we  began  the 
delicate,  difficult,  and  dangerous  operation  of  dissecting  out  the  alcohol 
nerve  from  the  body  politic,  we  did  not  realize  the  intricacy  of  the 
undertaking,  nor  the  distances  that  must  be  traversed  by  the  scalpel 
of  investigation  and  research.  More  than  twenty  j^ears  have  elapsed 
since  the  call  to  battle  sounded  its  bugle-note  among  the  homes  and 
hearts  of  Hillsboro,  Ohio.  One  thought,  sentiment,  and  purpose  ani- 
mated those  saintly  praying  Bands,  whose  names  will  never  die  out 
from  human  history:  'Brothers,  we  beg  of  you  not  to  drink  and  not 
to  sell — '  This  was  the  single  wailing  note  of  these  moral  Paganinis, 
playing  on  one  string.  It  caught  the  universal  ear  and  set  the  key 
of  that  mighty  orchestra,  organized  with  so  much  toil  and  hardship, 
in  which  mingle  the  tender  and  exalted  strain  of  the  clanging  cornets 
of  science,  the  deep  trombones  of  legislation,  and  the  thunderous  drums 
of  politics  and  parties.  Standing  in  the  valley,  we  look  up  and  think 
we  see  an  isolated  mountain ;  climbing  to  its  top,  we  see  that  it  is  but 
one  member  of  a  range  of  mountains,  many  of  them  of  well-nigh  equal 
altitude." 

The  views  of  educated  and  thoughtful  women  of  various  church 
affiliations  began  to  broaden.  In  their  assemblies,  for  the  first  time 
questions  concerning  the  home  and  motherhood,  from  a  national,  gov- 
ernmental and  world-bettering  stand-point  were  considered.  The 
genius  of  Frances  Willard  was  seen  in  the  twofold  aspect  of  her  plan 
of  activities — protection  of  the  home  and  the  awakening  of  womanhood. 
"Woman,"  she  said,  "will  bless  and  brighten  every  place  she  enters 
and  she  will  enter  every  place  upon  the  round  earth." 

In  a  convention  address  given  during  this  period  of  agitation  and 
education  the  national  president  emphasized  the  necessity  of  bringing 
to  the  home,  the  church,  and  the  electorate,  the  scientific  and  moral 
reasons  for  total  abstinence.  In  her  prelude,  she  said:  "You  who  are 
here  gathered  from  every  quarter  of  this  vast  republic,  are  elected 
delegates,  with  a  great  constituency  behind  you.  Your  relationships  are 
to  the  home  that  of  protector;  to  the  nation,  that  of  purifier.  Wliat 
manner  of  persons  ought  we  to  be,  who  have  come  unto  the  kingdom 
for  such  a  time  as  this?     I  look  beyond  this  hushed  and  hallowed  scene 

31 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


to  the  sweet  homes  where  you  are  cherished,  and  to  the  sad  homes 
which  your  faith  and  works  have  brightened.  I  look  beyond  the  end- 
less procession  of  light-hearted  boys  and  girls,  with  shining  faces  and 
satchels  on  their  arms  obedient  this  morning  to  the  sound  of  the 
school-going  bell.  I  look  beyond  the  radiant  flag  flying  peacefully 
over  this  radiant  land,  and  then  I  look  at  the  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  reeking  and  cavernous  grogshops  of  America,  while  my  heart 
bows  with  yours  beneath  the  measureless  meaning  of  it  all,  and  our 
relation  to  the  future's  awful  battle  for  the  saving  of  the  homes  and 
the  downfall  of  the  liquor  traffic."  There  was  an  enthusiastic  response 
to  this  heroic,  intimate  appeal. 

May  we  not  liken  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  to  a 
life-giving  tree,  the  various  departments  as  branches  and  leaves,  reach- 
ing out  for  the  health  and  protection  of  all  the  people?  It  is  a  tree  of 
God's  own  planting,  of  which  poetically  it  may  be  said: 

"The  wind  that  blows  can  never  hurt  the  tree  God  plants : 

It  bloweth  East,  it  bloweth  West,  the  tender  leaves  have  little 
rest, 

But  every  wind  that  blows  is  best;  the  tree  God  plants 

Strikes  deeper  root,  spreads  wider  boughs,  grows  higher  still, 

For  Grod's  good-will  meets  all  its  needs." 

"Organized  Mother-Love,"  as  so  aptly  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  has  been 
called,  well  knew  the  value  of  striking  deeper  root.  Through  two 
generations,  the  principles  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  have  gripped  the  hearts 
and  minds  of  the  boys  and  girls  of  America. 

All  over  the  country,  throughout  these  campaigning  years,  num- 
berless groups  of  young  people  sang  Frances  Willard's  popular  song, 
"Saloons  Must  Go."  This  sentiment-making  chorus  was  like  the 
shout  of  the  triumphal  host  that  marched  around  the  walls  of  Jericho. 
Did  the  liquor  traffic  "list"  to  the  warning  in  "the  tread  of  many  feet, 
from  hill  and  farmhouse,  school,  and  street"?  Little  they  realized 
that  it  was  the  children's  crusade  march — the  march  of  victorjs  the 
march  of  total  abstinence  that  in  a  generation  gathered  impetus  and 
numbers  until  it  helped  break  down  the  walls  of  the  liquor  traffic. 
How  these  children  grown  to  manhood  and  womanhood  rejoiced  as 
the  stars  and  stripes  floated  over  a  sober  capitol  and  a  sober  nation. 
Verily,  "work  on  the  foundation  is  hidden  and  slow,  but  the  firmer 

32 


1        ^  d^^Ctrrr^^-^ 


1^^ :i^if^^p^U[!^^*^^^  ^^^5'UA>; 


First  verse  of  "Saloons  Must  Go" 
A   facsimile  of  Frances   E.  Willard's  original  copy. 


T  H  E    Fight    for    a    Clear    Brain 

you  make  it,  the  higher  you  go."  The  children  of  every  English-speak- 
ing people  loved  to  sing  the  marching  cadences  of  "Saloons  Must  Go" 
and  its  rendering  by  a  thousand  public  school  children  was  one  joyful 
event  of  an  evening  mass  meeting  held  in  Toronto,  Canada,  in  con- 
nection with  a  convention  of  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  Frances 
Willard  was  deeply  stirred  when  presented  by  a  winsome  child,  with 
a  beautiful  bouquet  of  flowers.  She  told  the  eager  boys  and  girls  and 
the  students  who  filled  the  galleries,  of  her  belief  that  they  would  help 
establish  for  their  homes  and  their  country  the  highest  and  holiest 
habits  of  life. 

With  enthusiasm,  they  arose  and  repeated  with  her  one  of  her  own 
original  watchwords,  "Character  is  habit  crystallized."  How  this 
popular  song,  "Saloons  Must  Go,"  came  to  be  written  is  a  little  story 
of  precious  memory  to  Anna  Gordon.  Her  widely  used  "Marching 
Songs  for  Young  Crusaders" — a  standard  series —  were  active  vote- 
makers  and  another  number  was  desired.  "You  must  write  a  song 
for  this  new  book,  Frank,"  Anna  Gordon  said  to  Miss  Willard  when 
one  day  they  were  on  the  train  going  home  from  Chicago  to  Evanston. 
With  her  usual  spontaneity,  Frances  Willard  replied,  as  she  tapped  her 
foot  rhythmically  on  the  floor,  "Shall  it  not  be  a  march  like  this,  Anna, 
and  I'll  call  it  'Saloons  Must  Go.'  "  In  less  than  half  an  hour,  as  the 
train  reached  Evanston,  the  copy  for  this  soulful  song  was  completed. 
One  stanza  just  as  it  was  written  is  given. 

Mary  T.  Lathrap,  the  "Daniel  Webster"  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  who 
often  had  been  thrilled  as  she  heard  this  song,  on  one  occasion  en- 
thusiastically exclaimed  to  a  large  audience,  "If  you  put  down  your 
ear  and  listen,  you  will  hear  the  tramp,  tramp,  tramp  of  ten  thousand 
little  feet,  some  of  them  in  kid  slippers,  some  of  them  in  copper-toed 
shoes,  and  some  of  them,  bless  their  dear  little  hearts,  barefoot,  and 
they  have  total  abstinence  pledges  in  their  hands." 

The  ultimate  goal  of  the  white  ribbon  women  was  the  protection 
of  the  homes  and  streets  of  every  rural  community  and  municipality. 
In  the  endeavor  to  secure  safety  for  their  loved  ones,  the  women  were 
learning  the  uses  of  strategy  and  common-sense,  in  the  diffiailt  opera-  (^ 
tion  of  "dissecting  out  the  alcohol  nerve  from  the  body  politic."  They 
knocked  persistently  at  the  door  of  the  public  school  and  Sunday  school, 
and  organized  for  the  children-at-large  the  Loyal  Temperance  Legion. 
Here,  they  put  into  practice  the  scientific  and  moral  teaching  of  the 

33 


Women    Torch-bearers 


/ 


public  and  Sunday  schools  and  into  the  lives  of  more  than  twenty 
million  boys  and  girls  there  came  the  assurance  that  the  privileges 
guaranteed  under  the  Constitution — "life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness"  would  be  theirs.  Through  the  national  leadership  of  the 
Loyal  Temperance  Legion  for  many  years  of  Helen  G.  Rice  of  Boston, 
who  had  in  Massachusetts  the  splendid  backing  of  Mary  A.  Liver- 
more,  pledged  Loyal  Temperance  Legion  boys  and  girls  held  rallies, 
oratorical  and  musical  contests — presenting  the  alcohol  question  from 
every  conceivable  standpoint.  Mark  Twain  endorsed  the  viewpoint  of 
the  women  who  were  building  for  a  better  citizenship  when  character- 
istically he  said :  "Training  is  everj^thing.  The  peach  was  once  a 
bitter  almond,  and  the  cauliflower  is  only  a  cabbage  with  a  college 
education." 

It  was  the  dawn  of  the  triumphant  day  of  Federal  Prohibition 
when  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  secured  in  Congress  and  in  all  the 
states,  beneficent  laws  requiring  scientific  temperance  instruction  in  the 
public  schools.  Heroic  scenes  were  enacted  that  might  well  be  de- 
picted in  pageants.  This  mighty  victory  was  naturally  evolved  from 
Frances  Willard's  initial  plan  given  in  1874  at  the  first  W.  C.  T.  U. 
convention — "Teaching  children  in  Sabbath  schools  and  public  schools 
the  ethics,  chemistry  and  hygiene  of  total  abstinence."  Miss  Willard 
inaugurated  temperance  instruction  in  juvenile  unions,  and  in  1875 
recommended  that  Miss  Julia  Coleman's  "Temperance  Catechism,"  and 
the  temperance  text  books,  "The  Bible  Rule  of  Temperance,"  and  "Al- 
cohol and  Tobacco,"  should  be  thoroughly  taught  members  of  the 
juvenile  unions. 

In  1876,  it  was  resolved  that  "the  ruinous  work  done  in  our  col- 
leges and  universities  by  intemperance  should  arouse  our  great  fear 
and  awaken  our  greatest  efforts  to  secure  such  moral  influence  and 
such  legislation  as  shall  protect  the  gifted  sons  of  this  republic  from 
this  curse  which  makes  all  culture  vain  and  all  life  a  failure."  The 
same  year  it  was  recommended  "that  our  children  in  our  public  schools 
be  taught  the  effect  of  alcohol  on  the  sj^stem  and  Miss  Willard  asked 
that  a  manual  of  instruction  and  exercises  should  be  published  for  the 
use  of  juvenile  societies;  also  that  a  committee  be  appointed  intro- 
ducing temperance  work  into  schools  and  colleges,  saying  that  "three 
years  of  experience  seem  to  indicate  that  the  children  of  a  country 
may  be  reached   best  through   the   schools."     One  of   the   resolutions 


34 


The    Fight    for    a    Clear    Brain 

passed  was  as  follows:  ''That  we  recognize  the  relation  of  scientific 
truth  to  temperance  and  that  we  urge  the  teaching  of  God's  natural 
laws  respecting  heredity  and  health  as  an  essential  part  of  temperance 
education." 

At  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention  of  1878,  Mrs.  Susan  J.  Steele  of 
Appleton,  Wisconsin,  became  chairman  of  the  committee  on  colleges, 
seminaries  and  public  schools.  By  Miss  Willard's  special  invitation, 
Mrs.  Mary  Hanchett  Hunt  of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  attended  the 
convention  of  1879,  and  was  appointed  chairman  of  the  standing  com- 
mittee of  scientific  temperance  instruction.  In  1880,  at  the  con- 
vention held  in  Boston,  Mrs.  Hunt  spoke  of  Sir  Benjamin  Ward 
Richardson's  text-books  as  having  been  introduced  into  several  of  the 
states;  also  of  the  new  primary  book  by  Miss  Julia  Coleman  of  New 
York,  of  which  she  said,  'This  has  been  prepared  with  the  utmost  care 
and  with  reference  to  authenticity  of  statement  and  is,  we  feel,  just 
what  we  want."  In  1880,  the  designation  of  chairman  having  been 
changed  to  that  of  superintendent.  Miss  Willard  nominated  Mary  Han- 
chett Hunt  for  superintendent  of  the  department  of  Scientific  Temper- 
ance Instruction,  and  she  was  elected  unanimously.  As  Mary  Hanchett, 
the  natural  sciences  had  been  the  specialty  of  the  new  superintendent, 
and  in  this  department  she  taught  with  a  success  foretelling  her  life 
work.  After  her  marriage,  her  interest  in  scientific  studies  continued. 
In  1873,  when  the  Woman's  Temperance  Crusade  swept  over  the  coun- 
try, reaching  the  east,  Mrs.  Hunt's  thoughts  were  turned  to  the 
physiological  or  scientific  side  of  the  temperance  question.  These  im- 
pressions were  intensified  by  listening  to  lectures  on  "Alcohol  and  the 
Brain"  given  by  Rev.  Joseph  Cook  of  Boston. 

The  seed-thought  of  teaching  the  children  of  all  public  school  grades 
the  value  of  total  abstinence  to  a  life,  dropped  into  Mrs.  Hunt's  achiev- 
ing soul,  came  to  splendid  fruition. 

"The  Star  of  Hope  of  the  Temperance  Reform  Stands  over  the 
Schoolhouse"  was  her  watchword,  as  valiantly  and  nationally  she  bat- 
tled for  laws  making  mandatory,  scientific  temperance  instruction  in 
the  public  schools.  In  answer  to  Mrs.  Hunt's  cogent  appeals,  boards 
of  education  elected  by  beer-and  whisky-drinking  constituents  said  to 
her,  "We  must  teach  only  what  the  law  requires."  Adequately  backed 
by  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  Mrs.  Hunt  proceeded  to  see  that  the 
law  required  in  every  state  the  teaching  of  scientific  temperance.     She 

35 


Women    Torc  h- b  barer  s 


made  a  careful  study,  in  her  travels,  of  the  best  and  latest  researches 
in  England  and  France,  as  well  as  in  America,  concerning  the  effect 
of  alcoholic  stimulants  upon  the  tissues  of  the  body  and  the  temper  of 
the  soul.  Her  board  of  counselors  was  comprised  of  men  of  the  high- 
est distinction  both  in  this  country  and  abroad.  The  story  of  this  mar- 
velous campaign  and  of  Mary  Hunt's  great  generalship,  as  well  as  the 
splendid  co-operation  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  is  recounted  in  the  libraries 
of  all  English  speaking  nations;  it  was  Mrs.  Hunt's  custom  to  exhibit 
at  each  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention,  a  map  of  the  United  States, 
each  state  being  covered  with  a  black  cap.  When  a  commonwealth 
secured  a  mandatory  law  requiring  scientific  temperance  instruction  in 
the  schools,  the  black  cap,  amid  cheers,  was  removed. 

Before  cutting  the  stitches  from  the  black  cap  covering  Georgia, 
the  last  state  to  secure  the  law,  Mrs,  Hunt  said:  "I  stand  in  the  pres- 
ence of  this  map  grateful  for  what  God  hath  wrought.  Its  whitening 
fields,  as  cap  after  cap  has  been  taken  from  these  states,  speak  of  divine 
purposes  of  mercy  to  us  as  a  nation.  My  heart  goes  out  to  the  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  women,  the  great  rank  and  file  of  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  who  have  stood  by  in  carrying  out 
every  plan  that  led  to  the  victory."  Mrs.  Katharine  Lent  Stevenson  of 
Boston  said  at  this  celebration:  "We  know  that  Frances  Willard,  the 
founder  of  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  and  the  greatest  organizer  of  the 
century,  never  showed  her  own  powers  of  discerning  leadership  more 
clearly  than  when  she  nominated  you,  Mrs.  Hunt,  in  1879,  as  chair- 
man of  the  committee  which  afterwards  became  the  department  of 
Scientific  Temperance  Instruction.  We  are  glad  to  come  in  for  our 
share,  as  individuals,  in  your  great  victory,  since  'we  all  belong'  to  the 
great  organization  which  has  helped  to  make  them  possible.  We  con- 
gratulate Georgia — the  last  state  to  pass  the  Scientific  Temperance  In- 
struction law." 

The  law  in  its  provisions  is  far  reaching.  West  Point  Academy, 
the  Naval  Academy,  all  the  territories  and  the  District  of  Columbia 
are  obliged,  in  any  teaching  supported  by  Federal  funds,  to  give  a 
prescribed  amount  of  instruction  upon  the  physiological  effects  of 
alcohol.  It  is  believed  generally  by  the  allied  temperance  and  religious 
forces  that  this  temperance  educational  victory  was  the  greatest  factor 
in  securing  a  Federal  prohibitory  law.  It  is  still  the  strongest  element 
in  making  public  sentiment  for  the  observance  and  enforcement  of  law. 


30 


Mrs.  Hannah  J.  Bailey     Mrs.  Anna  S.  Benjamin     Mrs.  Edith  Smith  Davis 
Mrs.  Adelia  E.  Carman  Mrs.  J.  K.  Barney  Mrs.  Sallie  F.  Chapin 

Mrs.  Emilia  D.  Martin  Mrs.  Mary  H.  Hunt  Miss  Elizabeth  W.  Greenwood 


The    Fight    for    a    Clear    Brain 

At  Mrs.  Hunt's  request,  in  1903,  at  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  con- 
vention held  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  the  name  of  the  Scientific  Temper- 
ance Instruction  department  was  changed  to  the  Bureau  of  Scientific 
Temperance  Investigation  and  department  of  Scientific  Temperance 
Instruction  in  Schools  and  Colleges.  It  is  well  to  remember  Mrs. 
Hunt's  wise  insistence  that  the  children  in  the  lower  grades  of  the 
public  schools  should  receive  their  full  share  of  scientific  temperance 
instruction — as  a  large  number  of  them  never  reached  the  higher  grades. 
In  this  extract  from  one  of  her  addresses  are  seen  the  educational  ideals 
and  scientific  facts  that  Mrs.  Hunt  gave  to  an  oncoming  generation: 

"The  slavery  of  alcohol  and  other  narcotics  is  the  worst  of  human 
bondages  because  it  tends  to  become  a  willing  bondage  that  enslaves  the 
soul  as  well  as  the  body  of  its  victim,  while  it  mortgages  his  children 
to  the  enslaver.  It  must  be  overthrown  if  our  race  is  to  move  on, 
through  generation  after  generation,  up  the  heights  of  its  utmost  pos- 
sibilities. The  popular  use  of  alcohol,  usually  begun  in  ignorance  of 
its  seductive  power,  is  a  menace  to  that  capacity  for  self-government 
without  which  a  republic  must  ultimately  perish.  A  republic  has  no 
power  with  which  it  can  compel  majorities.  As  long  as  a  majority 
of  the  people  believe  in  alcohol,  they  will  drink  it,  and  they  will  vote 
for  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  alcoholic  beverages.  If  we  want  the 
saloon  closed,  we  must  teach  the  majority,  the  law-making  power,  that 
alcohol  is  by  nature  an  outlaw  that  should  be  banished  from  human 
habits  and  traffic.  Compulsory  scientific  temperance  instruction  in 
the  public  schools  is  the  one  method  that  reaches  the  coming  majorities. 

"All  history  is  the  aggressive  advance  of  the  future  upon  the  past, 
the  field  of  collision  being  the  present.  Coming  generations  with  clear 
brains  and  untainted  blood  are  aggressively  advancing  on  the  alcoholic 
past  of  our  inheritance,  and  are  demanding  of  us  a  wise  selection  of 
weapons  for  this  'collision,'  which  is  primarily  a  battle  against  ideas 
inciting  to  the  drink  habit  that  enslaves  the  drinker.  It  is  the  clash  of 
the  new  teaching  of  modern  science,  that  alcohol  is  a  poison  at  war 
with  human  well-being,  against  the  old  notion  that  alcohol  is  a  good 
creature  of  God  for  human  sustenance.  Here  are  the  weapons  for 
this  warfare: 

"1.  Scientific  investigation  as  to  the  character  of  alcohol  and  its 
effects  on  the  human  system. 

37 


Women    Torch-bearers 


"2.     The  widest  difFusion  of  that  truth. 

"Education  through  the  schools  of  all  the  people  in  the  plastic 
period  of  childhood,  before  the  appetite  for  alcohol  is  formed,  in  the 
physiological  reasons  for  total  abstinence  from  alcoholic  drinks  and 
other  narcotics  is  the  sane  and  sure  method  for  the  dethronement  of 
alcohol.  It  is  sane  and  sure  because  history  has  shown  that  in  the 
ultimate  contest  truth  is  the  strongest  of  all  forces.  God  has  so  made 
the  human  mind  that  it  can  not  be  forever  inhospitable  to  truth  which, 
sooner  or  later,  overthrowing  ancient  error,  sits  enthroned  in  conscience, 
guiding  human  action. 

"The  child  is  born  who  will  see  the  last  legalized  saloon,  brewery 
and  distillery  of  alcoholic  drinks  disappear  from  the  land  if  we  now 
do  our  part  and  get  the  truth  to  the  people,  to  the  majority,  which  is 
the  law-making  power.  The  day  is  surely  coming  when  from  the 
schoolhouses  all  over  the  land  will  come  trained  haters  of  alcohol  to 
pour  a  whole  Niagara  of  ballots  upon  the  saloon." 

After  Mrs.  Hunt's  death  in  1906,  Mrs.  Mary  F.  Lovell,  Mrs. 
Hunt's  department  associate,  was  in  charge  of  the  important  work 
until  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention  held  in  Hartford,  in  No- 
vember, 1906,  when  Mrs.  Edith  Smith  Davis  of  Milwaukee,  Wiscon- 
sin, was  elected  national  superintendent. 

The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  was  most  fortunate 
in  securing  another  widely  known  leader  of  exceptional  ability.  Of 
distinguished  English  descent,  college-bred  and  an  author  of  reputa- 
tion, Mrs.  Davis  easily  obtained  a  strong  board  of  counselors  which 
included  men  of  recognized  authority  in  science,  medicine,  philosophy 
and  religion.  Seeking  to  build  on  the  enduring  foundations  already 
established  by  Mrs.  Hunt  and  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  Mrs.  Davis  toiled 
incessantly,  and  soon  won  for  herself  and  her  cause,  friends  and  fame. 
In  one  of  her  first  public  utterances  she  said: 

"Upon  the  broad  basis  of  the  past,  we  rest  our  hopes  and  our  efiforts 
for  the  greater  work  of  the  future.  Law  and  gospel,  fact  and  theory, 
science  and  sympathetic  co-operation  will  all  be  blended  in  the  great 
results  which  are  yet  to  be  achieved  through  this  important  line  of 
work  evolved  and  carried  forward  by  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  The  latest 
statement  of  expert  scientific  investigation  in  relation  to  alcohol  is  that 
alcohol  is  a  protoplasmic  poison  to  all  forms  of  organic  life,  and  it  is 
impossible  to  say  what  minimal  amount  can  be  taken  and  not  be  harm- 


38 


The     Fight     for    a     Clear    Brain 


ful  to  the  tissues  of  the  body.  You  tell  me  that  Jeffries,  the  prize 
fighter,  went  down  before  Johnson.  I  tell  you,  no,  Jeffries  went  down 
before  alcohol.  That  is  the  history  of  every  prize  fighter  from  John 
L.  Sullivan  down  to  the  present  day.  I  look  across  the  seas  and  I  see 
those  magnificent  Olympic  games  over  in  Stockholm  where  the  water- 
drinking  American  boys  carried  off  trophy  after  trophy.  I  see  Germany, 
England,  France  and  Italy  looking  in  amazement  at  the  temperate 
Americans  and  I  say,  thank  God  for  the  truth  which  is  being  taught 
in  colleges  and  the  universities  of  the  United  States — that  the  athlete 
must  leave  alcohol  and  tobacco  out  of  his  life." 

Through  travel,  Mrs.  Davis  came  in  close  touch  with  the  scientists 
of  Europe  as  well  as  of  the  United  States.  She  attended  the  meetings 
of  the  Congress  Against  Alcoholism  in  Stockholm  and  London;  and  in 
1911,  at  the  Hague  personally  investigated  the  schools  and  temperance 
conditions  in  many  a  country  of  Europe.  After  years  of  experience, 
Mrs.  Davis,  in  one  of  her  most  forceful  addresses,  gave  a  most  reveal- 
ing incident:  ''Where  there  is  no  vision,"  she  said,  "the  people  per- 
ish. I  have  studied  not  only  the  children  in  the  slums  of  New  York, 
Chicago  and  St.  Louis,  but  the  little  folk  in  the  slums  of  Dublin,  Glas- 
gow, Edinburgh  and  London.  I  have  looked  into  the  white,  pinched 
faces  of  children  who  have  been  robbed  of  their  birthright  by  their  own 
fathers  and  mothers ;  little  ones  who  have  come  into  this  world  crippled 
physically,  mentally,  morally  and  spiritually.  General  Booth  in  'Dark- 
est England,'  wrote :  'They  are  not  born  into  this  world ;  they  are 
damned  into  it.'  I  want  you  to  think  for  a  minute  of  the  children 
who  have  been  robbed  of  that  which  can  never  be  estimated  in  terms 
of  dollars  and  cents.  We  know  that  alcohol,  having  a  special  affinity 
for  the  brain,  puts  to  sleep  the  centers  of  inhibition  and  the  boy  taking 
it  in  any  form  is  robbed  of  his  self-control,  while  every  animal  passion 
is  stimulated.  We  know  that  the  child  may  be  cursed  before  he  is  born 
by  two  dreadful  venereal  diseases  and  that  back  of  both  is  alcoholism, 

"Let  me  describe  a  scene  which  I  witnessed  in  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful school  buildings  of  St.  Louis.  As  the  teacher  took  a  cluster  of 
roses  and  pinned  it  to  a  curtain,  she  said:  'One.'  Then  she  placed 
beside  it  another  cluster  of  roses  and  said,  'One  and  one  make  how 
many?'  And  although  some  of  the  children  had  been  with  her  for  more 
than  eight  years,  not  a  child  in  the  room  could  tell  how  many  one  and 
one  made.     I  asked  the  teacher  if  she  could  tell  me  the  kinds  of  homes 

39 


V 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


from  which  those  children  came.  She  replied,  'This  is  a  very  expensive 
private  institution.  We  have  a  separate  teacher  and  a  separate  atten- 
dant for  each  child.  These  children  are  from  the  richest,  most  beauti- 
ful homes  in  St.  Louis  and  they  are  what  they  are  through  the  drink 
habits  of  their  fathers  and  their  mothers.'  " 

Both  Mrs.  Hunt  and  Mrs.  Davis  specialized  in  the  training  of 
teachers — giving  lectures  in  grade  and  high  schools,  and  at  summer 
institutes.  Educators  prized  the  scientific  journals,  charts,  and  carefully 
prepared  experiments  furnished  by  these  leaders.  On  the  death  of  Mrs. 
Davis,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  O.  Middleton  of  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  was 
chosen  national  superintendent  of  the  department.  Ably  and  indefatig- 
ably  she  pushed  the  work  along  the  lines  so  v/ell  established.  Miss 
Cora  Frances  Stoddard  of  Boston,  who  had  been  made  the  head  of  the 
National  Bureau  of  Scientific  Temperance  Investigation  became  later 
the  national  superintendent  in  schools  and  colleges,  while  Mrs.  Middle- 
ton  continued  to  fill  the  important  position  of  a  department  field  worker. 
In  a  later  chapter,  the  continued  triumphs  of  this  department  will  be 
given. 

In  this  era,  before  the  advent  of  the  automobile,  phonograph  and 
moving  picture,  temperance  mass  meetings  everywhere  were  popular, 
and  large  audiences  assembled  to  hear  the  women  speakers.  Through 
the  columns  of  the  daily  press,  their  speeches  reached  millions  of  readers 
and  the  W,  C.  T.  U.,  this  "tree"  of  God's  own  planting,  rapidly 
"spread  wider  boughs"  and  grew  "higher  still."  Frances  Willard,  al- 
ways lecturing  on  the  scientific  phase  of  temperance,  burned  out  her  life 
for  the  childhood  of  the  nation  and  of  the  world.  Her  creed,  "My  life 
a  vow,"  was  no  conventional  impulsive  statement.  It  really  voiced  as 
did  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning's  "Cry  of  the  Children"  an  im- 
passioned, unflagging  desire  for  the  protection  of  the  boys  and  girls. 
Many  of  Miss  Willard's  heartfelt  utterances  almost  unconsciously  were 
woven  into  the  fabric  of  educational,  social  and  civic  life. 

The  states  having  a  Temperance  Day  in  the  public  schools  are: 
Alabama,  Tennessee,  JCansas,  New  Mexico,  Kentucky,  Wisconsin, 
Pennsylvania,  Maine,  Mississippi,  Oregon,  North  Dakota,  Missouri, 
South  Dakota,  South  Carolina,  Nevada,  Nebraska,  Ohio,  North  Caro- 
lina, Minnesota,  Georgia,  Washington.  In  many  of  these  common- 
wealths the  special  temperance  day  is  named  for  Frances  Willard. 

40 


The    Fight    for    a    Clear    Brain 

It  requires  great  valor  to  be  a  hero  on  the  battle  field,  but  often  a 
higher  type  of  courage  is  displayed  on  the  moral  and  civic  field.  Cap- 
tain Richmond  Pearson  Hobson,  the  acknowledged  naval  hero  of  the 
Spanish  war,  was  acclaimed  a  still  greater  hero  in  the  national  peace- 
ful war  against  King  Alcohol.  When  Lieutenant  Hobson  bravely  risked 
his  life  and  under  fire  from  the  enemy  sank  the  "Merrimac"  in  Santiago 
Harbor,  he  had  the  clear,  electric  brain  of  a  young  man  who  had  never 
used  alcoholic  liquors.  As  the  "Merrimac"  went  down  Lieutenant  Hobson 
with  the  seven  sailors  under  his  command,  took  to  a  raft  and  after  sev- 
eral hours  they  were  hailed  by  an  enemy's  launch,  that  of  Admiral  Cer- 
vera,  the  Spanish  commander.  The  admiral,  on  learning  the  identity 
of  Lieutenant  Hobson,  called  out  to  him  with  fine  Castilian  courtesy, 
"Bravo,  young  man!"  The  captain  and  his  men  were  taken  on  shore 
and  made  prisoners  of  war. 

Tramping  up  and  down  in  his  narrow  prison  cell,  he  looked  out 
between  the  bars  and  saw  in  the  distance  the  Spanish  flag  flying  from 
a  Spanish  blockhouse  beyond  San  Juan  hill.  He  could  not  help  asso- 
ciating it  with  oppression  and  wondered  what  would  happen  when  the 
United  States  flag  that  stands  for  universal  liberty  should  arrive.  One 
afternoon  he  heard  the  great  guns  as  a  battle  was  fought,  and  then  he 
saw  the  Spanish  flag  fall  and  in  its  place  appeared  the  stars  and  stripes. 
Later,  all  over  the  United  States,  the  school  children  were  given  Cap- 
tain Hobson's  dynamic  message.  This  is  what  the  hero  of  the  ''Merri- 
mac"  said:  "The  drink  traffic  is  a  menace  to  liberty — liberty  for 
which  our  flag  stands.  Every  year,  by  the  use  of  alcohol,  the  destroyer, 
millions  of  our  people  have  their  standards  of  citizenship  lowered.  We 
must  eliminate  this  great  agent,  alcohol,  that  presses  the  standard  down 
far  below  its  proper  level." 

Soon  after  Dr.  Lemuel  H.  Murlin  became  president  of  Boston 
University,  he  was  asked  to  participate  in  a  great  temperance  meeting 
held  in  Park  Street  Church,  Boston,  Massachusetts.  After  many  prom- 
inent men  had  represented  various  societies.  Dr.  Murlin  said  that  he 
appreciated  the  record  of  all  that  had  been  done  through  these  various 
organizations.  He  thought,  however,  that  the  unprecedented,  funda- 
mental work  accomplished  through  public  schools,  colleges,  and  homes 
by  the  National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  had  been  the 
nation's  most  valuable  temperance  asset.  Thoughtfully  he  said,  "When 
I  was  a  student  in  one  of  the  leading  Kansas  universities,  we  were  told 

41 


Women    Torch-bearers 


that  we  were  to  have  a  temperance  lecture — a  lecture  by  a  woman.  We 
men  didn't  look  forward  to  this  with  any  enthusiasm.  We  had  an 
electric  thrill,  however,  when  we  saw  before  us  Frances  E.  Willard, 
who  was  in  the  prime  of  life,  a  charming  personality,  as  well  as  a 
J  magnetic  speaker.  The  fact  that  we  lived  in  a  prohibition  state  had 
not  made  any  vital  impression  upon  most  of  us.  Miss  Willard,  how- 
ever, gave  us  a  vision  of  the  benefits  of  total  abstinence  and  our  oppor- 
tunity to  be  patriots  and  enforce  the  prohibitory  law  in  our  own  state ;  so 
helping  the  people  of  our  entire  nation  to  reach  a  higher  civilization. 
From  that  time,  my  active  influence  was  on  the  side  of  total  abstinence 
and  prohibition  and  it  was  from  a  national  standpoint.  Kansas  suf- 
fered from  the  importation  of  liquor  from  wet  states,  so  I  joined  the 
forces  that  were  working  for  Federal  prohibition.  Do  you  wonder 
that  I  honor  the  fundamental  far-reaching  work  of  the  Woman's  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union?"     The  W.  C.  T.  U.  honors  Dr.  Murlin. 

The  truth  of  the  "vision"  seen  by  Dr.  Cheever  of  Salem,  Massa- 
chusetts, early  in  the  temperance  reform  was  now  becoming  more  widely 
known.  Always  Dr.  Cheever  will  be  greatly  honored  as  a  pioneer  in 
the  fearless  defense  of  total  abstinence  and  denunciation  of  the  liquor 
traffic.  As  little  girls,  many  who  afterwards  became  active  in  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.,  received  their  first  impressions  against  alcoholic  drink 
while  they  shivered  with  childish  fear,  as  they  were  shown  from  the 
public  platform  pictures  of  "Deacon  Giles'  Distillery"  in  which  little 
devils  were  hilariously  running  about  manufacturing  and  dispensing 
alcoholic  liquors.     Here  was  depicted  more  of  reality  than  vision. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Dr.  Cheever  was  prosecuted,  convicted 
and  for  thirty  days  imprisoned  in  the  Salem  (Massachusetts)  jail.  Not 
long  before  his  death.  Dr.  Cheever  related  this  incident  of  strange 
fruitage  from  his  early  seed-sowing:  "I  had  preached  in  Boston,  and 
as  I  came  down  the  aisle  from  the  pulpit  was  accosted  by  a  middle-aged, 
well-dressed  stranger  who  introduced  himself  as  Mr.  Giles,  the  son  of 
Deacon  Giles,  owner  of  the  famous  distillery.  'I  stopped  you,  Dr. 
Cheever,'  he  said,  'to  thank  you  for  writing  that  "Dream."  It  was  the 
means  of  making  me  think  of  the  evil  effects  of  distilling  intoxicating 
liquors,  and  determined  me  to  give  up  the  wicked  business.  It  also 
brought  me  to  confess  and  renounce  my  sins  and  accept  the  offer  of 
salvation  through  Jesus  Christ.'  " 

The  W.  C.  T.  U.,  on  the  threshold  of  a  new  Crusade,  is  emphasiz- 

42 


Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens 


The    Fight    for    a    Clear    Brain 


ing  this  authoritative  and  recent  statement  of  one  of  the  leading  world 
scientists,  Dr.  C.  W.  Saleeby  of  London,  England,  vice-president  of 
the  National  Temperance  League  and  National  Commercial  Temper- 
ance League:  "Sixteen  years  ago,"  Dr.  Saleeby  says,  "I  included  al- 
cohol as  one  of  those  substances  I  called  racial  poisons.  Most  injurious 
things  do  not  poison  the  race.  They  hurt  the  individual  and  the  injury 
ends  there.  Thus  nature  is  doing  her  best  ever  to  preserve  the  life  of 
future  generations.  But  certain  agencies  have  this  damnable  quality 
— they  destroy  posterity  in  and  through  parenthood  in  the  present  gene- 
ration.    I  call  them  racial  poisons." 

For  many  years  Maine,  Kansas  and  North  Dakota  w^ere  the  only 
prohibition  states.  An  incident  often  related  by  Lillian  M.  N.  Ste- 
vens illustrates  the  inestimable  benefit  of  total  abstinence  accruing  even 
at  that  early  period  to  the  boys  and  girls  of  a  prohibition  state.  A 
lively  fourteen  year  old  lad,  w^ho  w^as  president  of  a  Loyal  Temperance 
Legion  in  one  of  the  smaller  towns  of  Maine,  accompanied  his  father 
to  Boston  and  was  a  silent  listener  to  the  conversation  between  his  "dad" 
and  one  of  his  Boston  friends.  They  were  sitting  at  a  table  enjoying 
their  dinner  when  this  refined  gentleman  in  praising  the  State  of  Maine, 
said,  "There  is  just  one  thing  you  need  and  that  is  a  respectable  saloon 
in  a  respectable  place,  so  that  a  respectable  man  can  get  a  drink."  The 
men  had  forgotten  entirely  the  presence  of  the  boy.  Suddenly  he  looked 
up  with  astonished  gaze  at  the  Boston  friend  and  said  earnestly,  "Ex- 
cuse me,  sir!  Don't  you  know  that  respectable  men  don't  drink  in  the 
state  of  Maine?" 

In  the  fight  for  a  clear  brain,  no  one  was  more  highly  esteemed 
by  the  allied  temperance  forces,  or  more  feared  by  the  liquor  men,  than 
was  Mrs.  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens.  From  its  earliest  years,  Mrs.  Ste- 
vens was  identified  with  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  attending  as  a  dele- 
gate the  National  Convention  held  at  Newark,  New  Jersey,  in  1876, 
and  assisting  in  all  subsequent  conventions.  In  1880  she  was  chosen 
assistant  recording  secretary  and  a  few  years  later  recording  secretary. 
A  further  record  of  Mrs.  Stevens'  devoted  and  brilliant  W.  C.  T.  TJ. 
service  is  given  in  the  chapters  on  Legislative  Achievement,  the  World's 
W.  C.  T.  U.  and  the  Eighteenth  Amendment. 

During  the  regime  of  local  option,  annual  or  biennial  campaigns  tor 
license  or  no  license  were  held,  and  children's  choruses,  drills  and  reci- 
tations were  powerful,  winning  factors.     Drinking  men  were  grateful 

43 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


for  the  total  abstinence  instruction  given  their  children.  Mary  A. 
Livermore,  then  president  of  the  Massachusetts  W.  C.  T.  U.,  as  well 
as  a  popular  lyceum  lecturer,  often  told  how  she  came  to  organize  a 
Loyal  Temperance  Legion.  In  order  to  lure  the  men  away  from  the 
saloons,  the  Boston  W.  C.  T.  U.  established  coffee  houses.  Many  drinkers 
were  reformed,  but  found  it  difficult  to  remain  sober.  One  of  these, 
the  father  of  promising  boys,  seeing  legalized  saloons  on  nearly  every 
corner  tempting  his  sons,  in  desperation  sought  Mrs.  Livermore  and 
said,  "We  men  are  truly  grateful  for  the  help  you  are  giving  us  but, 
lady,  we  are  badly  damaged  by  the  drink.  We  shall  never  be  what 
we  might  have  been.  If  you  can  do  anything  for  anybody,  we  want 
you  to  save  our  boys." 

Mary  Livermore  and  all  home-loving  men  and  women  ardently  en- 
dorsed these  eloquent  words  of  Frances  Willard  regarding  the  danger 
to  the  brain  and  body  of  using,  even  moderately,  alcoholic  liquors: 
"The  human  brain  with  its  fair,  delicate,  mystical  filaments,  is  God's 
night-blooming  cereus,  its  white  radiance  forever  inclosed  and  shut 
away  from  sight  within  the  close  crypt  of  the  skull,  but  exhaling  its 
fragrance  in  poetry  and  revealing  its  deep  pure  heart  in  science,  philo- 
sophy and  religion.  The  brain  must  think  with  lightning  speed,  the 
hand  must  be  steadfast  as  steel,  the  pulse  must  beat  strong,  yet  true,  if 
a  great  commercial  nation  is  to  hold  its  own  with  the  forces  of  chem- 
istry, electricity,  and  invention  now  on  the  field. 

"We  have  the  testimony  of  a  great  chemist,  the  late  Dr.  Nichols 
(for  many  years  editor  of  the  Journal  of  Chemistry,  Boston)  'that  the 
resources  of  that  magical  science  are  such  that  every  useful  purpose 
ever  served  by  alcohol  has  been  already  superseded  by  chemicals  already 
known  to  the  laboratory  and  soon  to  be  everyday  articles  of  commerce.' 

"What  is  it  that  the  indifferent  doctor,  editor,  public  school  teacher, 
and  Sunday  school  teacher  lacks?  What  is  it?  The  arrest  of  thought. 
What  people  lack  is  imagination.  Evil  is  wrought  for  want  of  thought 
more  than  for  want  of  heart.  Suppose  that  in  this  day  of  science,  the 
school  should  echo  the  mother's  total  abstinence  teachings.  Suppose 
that  with  the  majesty  of  law  and  dignity  of  learning,  the  state  should 
require  and  the  teacher  inculcate  lessons  like  these.  Then,  indeed,  it 
would  be  manly  to  let  strong  drink  alone.  Then  it  would  be  steadily 
wrought  into  the  warp  and  woof  of  boyhood's  character  and  habit  to 
abstain  from  fleshly  lusts  that  war  against  the  soul.     But  all  the  way 


44 


The    Fight    for    a    Clear    Brain 

toward  manhood  that  dramshop  so  seductive  has  been  just  across  the 
street.  The  boy  has  found  out  that  in  municipal  council  room,  legisla- 
tive hall,  and  national  Congress,  the  so-called  guardians  of  the  public 
weal  have  been  the  guardians  of  the  liquor  traffic.  The  logical  outcome 
of  total  abstinence  is  total  prohibition.  In  our  day,  this  must  come 
through  ballots  as  a  result  of  home,  school  and  church  training  that 
will  make  those  who  vote  conscientious  on  this  subject." 

In  this  period  of  W.  C.  T.  U.  history,  white  ribbon  leaders,  in 
their  fight  for  a  clear  brain,  considered  the  hygienic  and  temperance 
findings  of  the  physiological  laboratories,  both  in  America  and  abroad, 
their  greatest  asset.  Through  the  efforts  of  public  and  Sunday  school 
teachers,  the  Young  People's  Branch  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  and  the 
Loyal  Temperance  Legion,  these  scientific  facts  formed  a  basis  for  pub- 
lic school  essays,  elocutionary  medal  contests,  Sunday  school  temperance 
concerts,  posters  in  shop  windows,  exhibits  in  booths  on  fair  grounds, 
in  articles  given  to  the  cosmopolitan  press,  and  leaflets  sent  out  as 
"leaves  of  healing." 

The  following  were  some  of  the  scientific  data  and  appeals  that 
through  W.  C.  T.  U.  publicity  moulded  public  thought:  "If  we  can 
safeguard  the  young  to  the  utmost,"  said  Sir  Thomas  Barlow,  Physician 
to  King  Edward  VII,  "and  not  only  keep  alcohol  away  from  them, 
but  make  them  realize  from  early  years  the  terrible  ills  that  it  brings 
to  body  and  soul,  then  there  may  be  some  chance  of  the  next  generation 
looking  at  the  whole  subject  in  its  true  light,  and  our  children's  chil- 
dren may  realize  that  abstinence  is  not  fanaticism  or  asceticism,  but 
rational  self-control  in  respect  to  something  which  is  fraught  with  un- 
told risks." 

"The  sale  of  drink  is  the  sale  of  disease;  the  sale  of  drink  is  the 
sale  of  poverty;  the  sale  of  drink  is  the  sale  of  insanity;  the  sale  of 
drink  is  the  sale  of  crime ;  the  sale  of  drink  is  the  sale  of  death."  This 
was  one  of  the  greatest  sayings  of  that  great  man.  Sir  Benjamin  Ward 
Richardson — given  to  the  world  in  1892.  "Drink  causes  more  injury 
to  humanity  than  war,  pestilence  and  famine  combined,"  was  the  force- 
ful dictum  of  William  E.  Gladstone. 

In  America,  in  the  less  enlightened  day  of  medical  practice,  a  dis- 
cerning physician  declared:  "When  a  patient  is  cold,  we  give  him  al- 
cohol. When  the  patient  has  fever,  we  give  him  alcohol.  When  the 
patient  is  sick  from  any  cause,  we  give  him  alcohol,  and  when  he  is 

45 


Women    To  rc  h  -  b  e  ar  er  s 


well,  he  takes  it  himself.  The  use  of  alcohol  has  led  to  most  of  the 
vice  and  crime  with  which  our  country  has  been  plagued." 

Under  the  direction  of  Dr.  J.  H.  Kellogg  at  the  Battle  Creek  Sani- 
tarium, (Michigan),  a  great  variety  of  experiments  were  made  con- 
firming and  verifying  the  results  obtained  by  European  observers,  and 
showing  in  the  use  of  alcohol,  the  same  physiological,  psychological  and 
pathological  depression  and  anaesthesia  leading  up  to  final  paralysis. 
Dr.  Winfield  S.  Hall  of  Chicago,  Illinois,  declared  that  laboratory 
tests  had  proved  these  facts :  "Alcohol  cannnot  be  considered  a  food ; 
alcohol  decreases  the  efficiency  of  muscle,  glands,  and  nervous  system; 
alcohol  is  a  narcotic  in  its  drug  action ;  alcohol  given  in  minute  quan- 
tities to  lower  animals  seriously  impairs  fecundity.  It  leads  to  race 
suicide." 

A  number  of  important  insurance  companies  aroused  public  opinion 
proving  that  the  longevity  of  the  abstainer  ranged  from  thirty  to  forty 
per  cent  greater  than  that  of  the  moderate  drinker, 

A  director  of  athletics  made  this  authoritative  statement:  "I  pos- 
itively know  from  experience  in  fifteen  Marathon  races  both  in  this 
country  and  England  that  alcohol  used  in  any  form  in  a  race  of  this 
kind  is  a  great  detriment.  Whisky  nerves  and  beer-weakened  muscles 
are  spotted  on  the  instant  on  the  diamond."  "Without  the  factor  of  right 
living,  any  measure  of  success  on  the  diamond  is  impossible,"  said  "Hur- 
ry-Up"  Yost.  Frederick  Robertson  defines  true  liberty  thus:  "People  talk 
of  liberty  as  if  it  means  the  liberty  to  do  just  what  a  man  likes.  I  call  that 
man  free  who  is  able  to  rule  himself.  I  call  him  free  who  has  learned  the 
most  blessed  of  all  truths,  that  liberty  consists  in  obedience  to  the  power 
and  to  the  will  and  to  the  law  that  his  higher  soul  reverences  and  ap- 
proves. He  is  not  free  because  he  does  what  he  likes ;  but  he  is  free 
because  he  does  what  he  should,  and  there  is  no  protest  in  his  soul 
against  that  doing." 

The  stabilization  of  total  abstinence  sentiment  was  hastened  by 
widely  heralded  current  temperance  events.  The  story  of  this  period 
of  agitation  and  education  would  not  be  complete  without  some  record 
of  the  achievements  of  courageous  men  and  women  who,  for  conscience 
sake,  and  the  good  of  others,  overcame  avarice  and  prejudice. 

One  of  the  earliest  Americans  to  work  for  total  abstinence  was 
General  Neal  Dow  of  Portland,  Maine.  The  story  of  his  life  deserves 
to  be  recounted — from  generation  to  generation:     In  1836,  Neal  Dow 


46 


The    Fight    for    a    Clear    Brain 

for  the  sake  of  a  refined  woman  suffering  from  the  drinking  habits  of 
her  husband,  visited  in  Portland  a  rum  seller  and  endeavored  to  per- 
suade him  not  to  sell  any  more  rum  to  this  gentleman,  in  whom  he  was 
so  interested.  He  was  told  the  man  was  not  in  the  saloon,  but  hearing 
voices,  he  opened  the  back  door,  found  him  and  awakened  his  moral 
sense.  Then  General  Dow  appealed  to  the  saloon-keeper  telling  him 
that  if  he  would  refuse  to  sell  liquor  to  the  man,  he  would  not  go  else- 
where to  obtain  it.  The  liquor  dealer  replied,  angrily,  that  it  was  his 
business  to  sell  rum  and  that  he  supported  his  family  in  this  way  and 
did  not  want  any  advice.  Mr.  Dow  replied,  "It  is  your  business  to  sell 
rum,  is  it?  You  have  a  license  to  sell  rum,  have  you?  Heaven  help- 
ing me,  I'll  change  all  that!"  Then  Mr.  Dow  began  the  battle.  A 
friend  helped  him,  and  together  they  went  all  over  the  state  for  years 
creating  public  sentiment  and  holding  meetings  in  school  houses,  town 
halls  and  churches.  There  were  only  a  few  railroads,  so  Mr.  Dow 
took  his  carriage  and  sleigh  and  drove  over  the  length  and  breadth  of 
Maine.  In  1851,  after  the  prohibition  law  was  enacted,  Mr.  Dow 
traveled  through  the  state  again.  He  found  the  jails  and  poor  houses 
nearly  empty,  though  they  had  been  crowded  with  inmates.  Maine 
had  been  the  poorest  state  in  the  Union.  It  became  one  of  the  most 
prosperous.  General  Dow  lived  to  be  ninety-three  years  of  age.  His 
birthday,  March  20,  is  one  of  the  Red  Letter  days  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 
When  he  was  only  twenty-three  years  of  age,  he  was  president  of  the 
fire  company.  According  to  their  custom,  they  ordered  liquors  to 
be  served  on  a  social  occasion,  but  rescinded  their  vote  because  of  his 
earnest  protest. 

In  1885,  an  army  general  quite  unknown  to  temperance  circles, 
made  on  Commencement  Day,  a  most  significant  total  abstinence  appeal 
to  the  graduating  cadets  at  West  Point,  when,  as  a  prerequisite  to  their 
promotion,  he  urged  them  to  let  alcoholic  drinks  severely  alone.  A  big 
prohibition  parade,  aided  by  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  caused  a  great  stir  in 
Chicago — more  than  a  score  of  years  ago.  Headed  by  General  Fred- 
erick Dent  Grant,  in  uniform,  and  taking  hours  to  pass  in  review,  it 
brought  consternation  to  the  liquor  men,  who  at  nearly  every  corner 
stood  before  their  saloons — seven  thousand  licensed  and  many  illegal 
places.  The  banners  carried  by  boys  and  girls,  men  and  women,  voiced 
the  protection  of  the  home  and  the  doom  of  drink.  The  appeal  and 
warning  sent  by  Gen.  Frederick  Grant  to  the  boys  of  the  nation,  in  pur- 

47 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


port  was  this:  "Tell  the  boys  not  to  drink.  Tell  the  boys  I  do  not 
drink  because  I  am  afraid  to  drink."  In  his  message  he  took  the  boj^s 
into  his  confidence  by  telling  them  incidents  of  his  early  life  in  the 
White  House  and  at  West  Point  where  he  was  "treated"  and  feted  be- 
cause he  was  the  President's  son.  Observing  later,  the  harmful  effect 
of  wine  and  beer  on  himself  and  others,  he  ever  after  at  social  func- 
tions courteously  declined  the  tempting  glass  and  even  the  alluring 
"punch."  The  leadership  of  General  Frederick  Grant  in  the  parade, 
wearing  the  full  uniform  of  the  United  States  Army,  caused  the  brewers 
and  distillers  of  Chicago  to  send  the  War  Department  at  Washington, 
an  angry  protest,  that  Secretary  Dickinson  wisely  pronounced  unworthy 
of  consideration. 

General  Grant,  in  reply  to  this  protest  said,  "it  was  most  appro- 
priate for  a  United  States  general  to  head  a  Law  and  Order  parade; 
and  that  was  the  character  of  the  one  in  which  I  so  happily  partici- 
pated." 

Andrew  Carnegie,  who,  late  in  life,  addressed  a  company  of  railway 
men,  said,  "A  drinking  man  should  have  no  place  in  a  railway  system, 
indeed,  he  should  have  no  place  anywhere."  One  of  the  compelling 
reasons  why  Andrew  Carnegie  did  so  much  to  multiply  libraries  all  over 
the  country  is  the  fact  that  the  free  public  library  with  the  reading 
habit  which  it  creates  could  be  made  at  that  time  so  powerful  an  offset 
to  the  ever  curseful  saloon. 

John  B.  Gough,  an  orator  of  inimitable  force,  showed  the  inner 
urge  of  his  life  when  he  declared:  "While  I  can  talk  against  the 
drink,  I'll  talk;  and  when  I  can  only  whisper,  I'll  do  that;  and  when 
I  can't  whisper  any  longer,  faith,  I'll  make  motions — they  say  I'm  good 
at  that,"  He  talked  right  on  against  the  drink  evil  until  he  lacked  but 
six  months  of  being  seventy  years  of  age,  speaking  nearly  9,000  times  to 
at  least  nine  millions  of  people,  and  traveling  450,000  miles  to  reach 
them.  His  last  words  spoken  with  superhuman  earnestness  to  a  great 
audience  were  these:  "Young  man,  keep  j^our  record  clean."  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Gough  as  personal  friends  of  Frances  Willard  ever  co-oper- 
ated with  W.  C.  T.  U.  activities. 

A  brave  pioneer  in  medical  temperance  was  Dr.  Nathan  S.  Davis, 
of  Chicago.  As  a  medical  student,  he  did  not  question  the  statements  of 
his  professors  who  thought  that  in  certain  cases  alcoholic  liquors  should 
be  used.    As  a  young  practicing  physician,  however,  he  encountered  oc- 


4S 


The     Fight    for    a    Clear    Brain 

casionally,  patients  who  refused  to  take  alcoholic  liquor  as  a  medicine, 
and  was  surprised  to  find  that  he  was  more  successful  with  such  pa- 
tients than  with  others  with  similar  diseases  who  used  alcoholic  pre- 
scriptions. He  was  determined  to  find  out  the  scientific  truth,  and  ob- 
tained the  control  of  a  ward  in  a  Chicago  hospital,  where  he  prescribed 
no  alcoholic  liquors — no  matter  what  the  disease.  Before  this  occurred. 
Dr.  Davis  had  written  for  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation stating  his  belief  that  alcoholic  liquors  as  medicines  should  be 
discontinued.  There  was  scarcely  a  doctor  who  agreed  with  him,  and 
he  was  called  a  fanatic.  He  continued  his  practice  in  the  hospital 
ward  for  some  years;  and  as  he  compared  results  with  the  patients  in 
hospitals  where  alcoholic  liquors  were  given,  most  favorable  results  were 
noted.  These  scientific  findings,  from  time  to  time  were  given  in  the 
national  medical  journal  and  Dr.  Davis  won  a  reputation  for  note- 
worthy scientific  research.  Later,  he  was  elected  president  of  the 
American  Medical  Association.  In  the  Stock  Yards  district  of  Chi- 
cago, is  a  community-center  building,  on  which  is  a  handsome  tablet, 
bearing  this  inscription:  "To  the  memory  of  Dr.  Nathan  S.  Davis, 
physician  and  philanthropist."  It  is  interesting  to  know  that  in 
Evanston,  where  are  located  the  headquarters  of  the  National  W.  C. 
T.  U.,  the  principal  street  bears  the  distinguished  name  of  "Davis." 

In  1889,  Hon.  John  D.  Long,  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  gave  an  "ar- 
rest of  thought"  to  ease-loving  wine  and  beer  drinkers  when  he  pro- 
hibited the  use  of  alcoholic  liquor  in  the  "mess"  of  the  navy  cadets  and 
seamen.  In  the  homes  of  these  boys,  fathers  and  mothers  thanked  God 
for  such  a  brave  official. 

At  an  influential  mass  meeting  held  in  Washington,  D.  C,  Hon. 
Seaborn  Wright  of  Georgia  said  that  southern  statesmen  were  now 
heartily  in  favor  of  observing  total  abstinence  in  the  business  world  and 
in  the  usages  of  society.  'Trances  Willard  and  those  who  have  fol- 
lowed her,  have  been  most  welcome  in  our  southland,"  he  courteously 
remarked.  "Statesmen  in  the  north  surprised  at  the  rapidity  with  which 
southern  states  have  become  dry,  often  exclaim  to  me,  'Of  course  it  is 
because  of  the  negro  that  you  have  outlawed  the  liquor  business!'  'Not 
so!'  I  answer,  'I  want  all  our  northern  friends  to  realize  that  while 
we  believe  the  sober  negro  is  the  only  desirable  colored  man,  we  did 
not  fight  the  liquor  traffic  on  his  account  alone.  We  saw  first  of  all, 
the  direful  need  of  saving  from  the  alcohol  habit  our  own  youth. 

49 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


Knowing  well,  as  I  do,  through  my  profession  the  best  people  of  the 
south,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  there  is  scarcely  a  family  that  has 
not  been  damaged  by  this  accursed  liquor  business.  Even  many  of  our 
daughters  are  suffering  because  they  have  married  young  men  who, 
because  of  drink,  have  ruined  or  debased  their  homes.'  " 

Judge  Ben  B.  Lindsey,  of  Denver,  another  pathfinder  in  the  tem- 
perance world,  popularly  called  the  "kid's  judge,"  was  warmly  aided  in 
his  "probation"  activities,  by  the  W.  C.  T.  U,,  and  many  a  white  rib- 
boner  became  a  successful  probation  officer.  The  following  stirrfng 
statements  made  by  Judge  Lindsey  at  a  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention  secured 
for  the  Juvenile  Court  the  support  of  all  true  friends  and  guardians 
of  childhood.  "About  100,000  boys,"  he  said,  "are  brought  to  jafi 
every  year.  It  is  an  inspiring  mission  in  life  to  have  any  part  what- 
ever in  helping  these  boys  and  girls.  The  first  commandment  of  the 
'gang'  is  'thou  shalt  not  snitch;'  95%  of  the  boys  we  have  tried  to  help 
have  turned  out  well ;  it  is  because  we  have  treated  the  boys  'on  the 
square.'  In  the  old  days  all  we  dealt  with  was  the  thing  the  boy  did. 
Now,  we  go  back  of  the  deed  and  interest  ourselves  in  the  boy ;  and 
there  is  nothing  in  the  world  so  valuable  as  a  boy — except  a  girl."  The 
Juvenile  Court  work  is,  after  all,  palliative.  It  was  never  the  inten- 
tion that  it  should  be  a  cure-all.  It  affords  much  better  methods  of 
caring  for  the  child  who  is  a  victim,  by  heredity  and  circumstance,  of 
many  evils  than  did  the  old  jail  and  the  criminal  court  system. 

Students  of  temperance  history  recall  the  gratifying  fact  that  Gen- 
eral U.  S.  Grant,  in  traveling  around  the  world  was  an  abstainer  from 
alcoholics  at  the  banquets  of  kings  and  the  nobility;  also  that  Mrs. 
Grant  when  Mistress  of  the  White  House  banished  intoxicants  on  New 
Year's  day,  not  only  from  her  own  table,  but  through  personal  influence, 
largely  from  the  cabinet  circle. 

Fashionable  society  gasped  when  the  first  lady  of  the  land,  Mrs. 
Lucy  Webb  Hayes,  with  the  approval  of  the  president,  not  only  turned 
her  own  wine  glass  upside  down  but  allowed  no  alcoholic  liquors  to  be 
served  at  the  White  House  social  functions  or  diplomatic  dinners.  The 
social  prestige  of  the  Mistress  of  the  WTiite  House  was  in  no  way 
diminished.  The  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  through  its  president,  Miss 
Frances  Willard,  presented  to  the  White  House  a  life-size  oil  painting 
of  Mrs.  Hayes.  This  gift  was  from  the  entire  constituency  of  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.  and  represented  their  high  appreciation  of  Mrs,  Ha5Ts' 


50 


The    Fight    for    a    Clear    Brain 

nobility  and  bravery.  David  Huntington  of  New  York  City,  President 
of  the  National  Academy  of  Design,  was  the  artist.  A  frame  carved 
under  the  superintendence  of  Ben  Pitman  by  students  of  the  Cincinnati 
Art  School  was  presented  by  ladies  of  that  city,  and  a  photogravure  of 
the  picture  was  executed  by  Barry,  of  Philadelphia.  In  the  spring  of 
1881,  while  Washington  was  in  gala  attire,  in  the  presence  of  an  im- 
mense evening  audience,  the  picture,  ten  feet  in  height  and  seven  in 
width,  was  unveiled  by  Dr.  Frederick  Merrick,  a  well-known  professor 
in  Ohio  Wesleyan  University. 

In  presenting  the  portrait,  Frances  Willard  said,  "Before  we  can 
at  all  estimate  the  significance  to  the  temperance  cause  of  the  example 
of  Mrs.  Lucy  Webb  Hayes,  we  must  turn  away  from,  the  victories  al- 
ready gained  and  contemplate  the  mountains  of  difficulty  that  loom  up 
ahead  of  our  advancing  hosts.  There  are  three  mighty  realms  of  in- 
fluence which  the  temperance  reform,  based  as  it  is  upon  science,  experi- 
ence and  the  golden  rule,  has  hardly  yet  invaded.  The  world  of  fine 
arts,  of  romance  and  of  fashion  still  sneers  at  total  abstinence.  From 
the  days  of  Homer  and  Virgil  to  those  of  Tennyson  and  Longfellow, 
the  poets  have  been  singing  in  tuneful  cadences  the  praises  of  wine. 
From  Praxiteles  to  Powers,  the  sculptors  have  delighted  to  idealize  the 
coarse  features  of  Bacchus.  From  the  antique  frescoes  of  Pompeii  down 
to  those  of  Meissonier,  the  choicest  pigments  of  the  painter  have  been 
lavished  to  furnish  forth  convivial  feasts.  Heroes  have  been  men 
mighty  to  drink  wine  and  heroines  have  found  their  prototype  in  Hebe, 
cup  bearer  to  the  gods.  Now  be  it  remembered  that  the  poet,  the  ar- 
tist and  the  novelist,  mighty  interpreters  of  nature  and  the  soul,  will 
always  maintain  their  empire  over  the  human  heart  so  long  as  it  Is.  a 
willing  captive  to  the  love  of  beauty  and  the  beauty  of  love,  so  that  until 
we  win  an  assured  place  for  the  temperance  reform  in  these  supremely 
influential  realms  of  thought  and  expression,  our  success  cannot  be  con- 
sidered permanent.  Until  Genius,  with  her  starry  eyes,  shall  be  gently 
persuaded  to  lay  her  choicest  trophies  at  the  feet  of  temperance,  there 
will  remain  for  us  much  territory  to  be  possessed.  This  beautiful  por- 
trait, soon  to  be  displayed,  painted  by  the  noblest  master  of  his  art  in 
all  the  land  is  the  'avant  courier'  of  many  a  trophy  which  our  cause 
is  yet  to  win. 

"Think  what  it  means  to  the  total  abstinence  cause  that  the  first  lady 
of  the  republic,  instead  of  cherishing  intoxicating  liquors  as  the  emblem 

51 


Women    Torc  h- be  arer  s 


of  hospitality  and  kindness  and  good  will,  banishes  them  from  cellar, 
sideboard  and  table,  as  the  enemies  of  her  home  and  of  the  guests  to 
whom  she  would  do  honor.  Wine  has  freely  flowed  in  the  houses  in- 
habited by  the  world's  rulers.  It  was  left  for  a  Christian  queen  of 
American  society  to  be  the  first  one  who  did  not  only  hear  but  heeded 
the  voice  of  God.  It  has  been  like  a  torch  held  up  in  the  gloom,  a  bea- 
con flaming  grandly  on  the  most  dangerous  headland  of  the  republic's 
coast,  and  it  shall  grow  and  gather  light  and  mount  up  to  the  zenith 
like  another  sun  shedding  its  genial  rays  into  the  darkest  heart  and 
most  desolate  home." 

During  a  later  administration.  Rose  Elizabeth  Cleveland,  a  sister  of 
the  president,  was  a  valued  white  ribboner  and  never  served  liquor  at 
her  afternoon  teas.  On  one  occasion  she  publicly  said:  "Drink  costs 
us  millions  of  criminals,  thousands  of  paupers,  thousands  of  ruined 
women,  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  and  women  goaded  by 
misery  into  suicide  or  madness." 

In  1908,  Mrs.  Zillah  Foster  Stevens  related  at  the  National  W. 
C.  T.  U.  convention  this  remarkable  story:  "Until  two  years  ago  the 
International  Sunday  School  Association  that  directly  teaches  twenty- 
six  million  children  had  no  temperance  department.  It  did  do  temper- 
ance work,  but  not  in  an  organized  way.  In  addition  to  the  quarterly 
temperance  lesson  it  has  a  temperance  department  now  and  this  is  its 
standard  for  action — Every  officer,  teacher  and  scholar  in  the  Sunday 
School  a  total  abstainer  and  a  worker  for  the  destruction  of  the  liquor 
traffic  and  for  the  extinction  of  the  cigaret  habit.  There  is  a  little 
story  at  the  bottom  of  the  creation  of  that  department  and  it  tells  why 
I  say  that  the  temperance  department  of  the  Sunday  School  Association 
is  the  big  boy  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 

"A  few  years  ago  one  of  our  Sunday  School  officers  had  a  letter. 
It  was  from  a  mining  town  and  the  writer  said,  'I  was  converted  when 
I  was  eleven  years  old.  I  am  a  member  of  the  Methodist  church;  we 
have  ten  saloons  in  this  mining  town  and  there  is  only  this  one  Sunday 
School  and  there  isn't  a  Christian  woman  in  the  place,  not  one,  and 
I  run  the  Sunday  School  and  a  young  student  comes  over  from  the 
church  Sunda3's  and  helps  me  and  I  am  the  janitor  and  organist  and  a 
teacher  in  the  Sunday  School.  The  boys  in  our  town  are  going  into 
these  ten  saloons  and  I  don't  know  what  to  do.  Won't  you  please 
send  me  help  for  temperance  work  in  the  Sunday  School  ?' 


52 


The    Fight    for    a    Clear    Brain 

"So  they  looked  through  all  their  pigeon  holes  of  the  missionary 
work,  primary  work,  cradle  roll  work  and  teachers'  work  and  other 
work  and  what  do  you  think?  They  wrote  to  the  writer  of  that  letter. 
They  said,  'On  temperance  work  we  have  nothing.'  Think  of  it.  And 
then  this  officer,  when  he  found  out  he  had  nothing  and  being  a  man  who 
wanted  to  get  something  right  away,  wrote  me  a  letter  telling  me  about 
that  place  and  I  said  I  would  better  go  to  see  what  kind  of  a  person  it 
was  who  was  janitor,  organist,  teacher  and  was  trying  to  do  temper- 
ance work.  So  I  took  a  day  off  and  went  over  there  and  I  got  off 
right  among  the  coal  mines  and  looking  around  supposed  I  would 
find  a  capable,  self-assertive,  vigorous  woman.  What  do  you  think 
I  found?  A  little  girl  in  short  dresses  with  her  braided  hair  hanging 
nearly  down  to  her  shoe  tops.  She  looked  up  at  me  in  the  most  childish 
way  and  I  said,  'I  am  hunting  for  such  and  such  a  person.'  'Why,'  she 
said,  'here  she  is.'  She  looked  like  a  flower.  I  said,  'How  old  are 
you?'  She  said,  'fourteen.'  And  I  said,  'How  did  you  find  out  about 
temperance  work  anyhow?'  'Oh,  I  wear  a  white  ribbon.'  Well,  I 
spent  the  day  there  and  found  that  the  child-janitor,  organist,  teacher, 
superintendent,  Christian,  head  of  the  cradle  roll  and  home  department 
and  so  on  was  the  single  solitary  influence  between  ten  saloons  and 
the  boys  in  that  town.  And  think  of  it!  When  she  wrote  to  the  In- 
ternational Sunday  School  headquarters  they  had  to  say,  'on  temperance  / 
we  have  nothing.'  ^"^ 

"When  it  came  state  convention  time  I  had  that  little  girl  there  in 
a  white  dress  and  I  told  the  folks  about  the  mining  town,  the  ten 
saloons  and  about  the  worker  and  I  said,  'Would  you  like  to  see  her?' 
They  expected,  of  course,  to  see  sorne  great  big,  capable  young  woman. 
I  called  her  out  and  she  came  trotting  to  the  platform  just  like  a 
little  girl.  When  she  faced  a  thousand  people,  she  felt  so  little  she 
didn't  know  what  to  do  and  she  ran  up  to  me  and  tucked  her  head 
down  under  my  arm  like  a  little  girl  of  four  years  old.  That  con- 
vention went  wild.  They  were  on  their  feet  all  over  the  house  and 
they  said,  'We've  got  to  have  a  temperance  department.'  And  so  the 
temperance  department  was  created  in  the  state  of  Illinois;  other  states 
fell  into  line  and  two  years  ago  the  International  Sunday  School  As- 
sociation, which  plans  the  Sunday  School  work  for  the  United  States 
and  Canada,  Mexico,  Hawaii,  Japan,  and  Alaska — and  I  don't  know 
where  else — said,  'We  will  have  an  International  Sunday  School  de- 

53 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


partment  and  it  stands  for  nothing  less  than  total  abstinence,  the 
destruction  of  the  liquor  habit  and  the  extinction  of  the  cigaret  habit.' 
They  look  to  the  white  ribboners  for  help  and  now  we  have  the  quar- 
terly Temperance  Sunday ;  four  times  a  year  in  the  Sunday  Schools  you 
will  find  temperance  exercises."  It  is  so  apparent,  is  it  not,  that  God 
called  out  the  reserves! 

William  Jennings  Bryan  in  one  of  his  masterful  total  abstinence 
addresses  made  this  statement:  "God  never  made  alcohol  necessary  to 
the  human  body,  mind,  or  soul.  The  man  who  contracts  the  habit 
cannot  lay  it  on  to  a  necessity  given  him  by  the  Creator.  God  never 
made  a  man  strong  enough  to  begin  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor  with 
certainty  that  he  would  not  become  its  slave.  Every  man  who  has 
fallen  into  a  drunkard's  grave  has  passed  through  a  period  of  con- 
fidence and  boasted  that  he  could  drink  it  when  he  wanted  to  and 
leave  it  alone  when  he  wanted  to;  but  he  has  overestimated  his  strength, 
and  fallen  a  victim  to  a  habit.  Moreover,  there  is  not  a  day  between 
the  cradle  and  the  grave  when  it  is  safe  for  a  man  to  commence  the  use 
of  alcohol." 

Archibishop  Ireland  wielded  a  strong  influence  against  social  drink- 
ing. He  declared  that  "the  great  cause  of  social  crime  is  drinking. 
When  I  hear  of  a  family  broken  up,  I  ask  the  cause — it  is  drink.  If 
I  go  to  the  gallows  and  ask  its  victim  the  cause,  the  answer  is  'drink.' 
Then  I  ask  myself  in  perfect  wonderment,  'Why  do  not  men  put  a 
stop  to  this  thing?'  " 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  a  young  woman  in  high 
society  dared  the  criticism  of  wine  drinking  people.  Her  courageous  act 
is  thus  described  by  a  long-time  friend  of  the  W.  C,  T.  U.,  that  silver 
tongued  orator,  Col.  George  W.  Bain:  "For  Christine  Bradley,  the 
eighteen-year-old  daughter  of  a  Governor  of  Kentucky,  to  stand  on  the 
dock  at  Newport  News,  against  the  customs  of  centuries  and  facing 
the  years  of  prejudice,  baptize  the  battleship  Kentucky  with  water,  re- 
quired as  blood-born-bravery  as  coursed  the  veins  of  the  Ensign  who 
cut  the  wires  in  Cardenas  Bay,  or  the  Captain  who  sank  the  'Merrimac' 
in  the  entrance  of  Santiago  Harbor.  Because  she  dared  to  violate  a 
long  established  custom  by  refusing  to  use  what  had  blighted  the  hopes 
of  many  daughters,  sent  to  drunkards'  graves  so  many  sons,  and  buried 
crafts  and  crews  in  watery  graves,  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  presented  her  with  a  handsome  silver  service." 


54 


(Reading  down) 

sifan^a  M°  n"'^Fr.  ^Tv!'"  ^^  t^°""o^'  Elizabeth  P.  Hutchinson 

ausanna  M    D.  Fry  Kathenne  Lent  Stevenson  Mary  Clement  Leavitt 

Helen  M.  Barker  Frances  E.  Beauchamp  Mary  T.  Lathrop 


The    Fight    for    a    Clear    Brain 

It  was  Colonel  Bain  who  was  chosen  to  make  the  presentation 
speech,  which  he  closed  by  saying — "Heaven  bless  Christine  Bradley, 
who  by  her  example  said — 

"I    christen   thee   Kentucky, 
With  water  from  the  spring. 
Which  enriched  the  blood  of  Lincoln, 
Whose  praise  the  sailors  sing, 

I  christen  thee  Kentucky, 
With  prayers  of  women  true. 
That  wine,  the  curse  of  sailors, 
May  never  curse  your  crew. 

I  christen  thee  Kentucky, 
And  may  this  christening  be, 
A  lesson  of  safety  ever. 
To  sailors  on  the  sea." 
One  of  the  bravest  and  most  beloved  workers  in  the  fight  for  a 
clear  brain  throughout  a  long  life,  was  Mrs.  Mary  T.  Hill  Willard, 
"Saint  Courageous,"  the  mother  of  Frances  Willard.     When  an  octo- 
genarian. Mother  Willard  sent  out  from  her  home,  Rest  Cottage,  Ev- 
anston,  Illinois,  to  boys  and  girls  everywhere  her  own  prophetic  ap- 
pealing message.     It  reads:   (in  part) 

"The  world  will  be  what  you  make  it, 
Little  people; 
It   will    be   as   you    shape   it, 

Little  people; 
Then    be    studious    and    brave. 
And  your  country  help   to   save, 
Little  people. 

When  we  walk  into   the  gray, 

Little  people, 
And    you    into    the     day, 

Little  people, 
We  will  beckon  you  along 
With    a    very     tender    song, 

Little  people." 

55 


Women    Torc  h- b  barer  s 


After  years  of  agitation,  education  and  organization  against  the 
alcohol  habit,  how  gratifying  it  has  been  to  see  total  abstinence  public 
sentiment  rapidly  awakening.  At  the  national  convention  of  1915,  the 
Spirit  of  Sobriety  garbed  in  the  symbols  of  victory,  suddenly  appeared 
and  announced  triumphantly:  "You  are  the  friends  who  have  made 
me  articulate.  In  1874  I  was  only  a  dream — a  vision;  today  I  am 
a  living  reality.  Once  I  was  hated;  now  I  am  beloved.  When  I  tell 
you  what  total  abstinence  has  accomplished,  you  will  realize  that  I  am 
the  impersonation  of  that  ideal  of  yours.    Listen  to  my  story: 

"Total  Abstinence  is  no  longer  a  ridiculed  fanaticism ;  it  sits  in  regal 
state  on  the  throne  of  empires  and  of  kingdoms,  and  in  republics  sways, 
in  ever  increasing  measure,  the  voting  citizenship.  It  safeguards  the 
soldier,  the  sailor,  the  aviator,  and  the  crew  of  the  submarine.  It 
gives  a  clear  brain  to  the  railroad  man,  the  athlete,  the  autoist,  and  the 
commercial,  industrial  and  agricultural  worker.  It  says,  'The  first 
man  to  be  taken  off  and  the  last  man  to  be  taken  on  is  the  man  who 
drinks.' 

"Total  Abstinence  framed  'Rule  G,'  enforced  by  every  railroad  of 
the  country.  'Rule  G'  places  a  reliable  man  in  charge  of  a  transcon- 
tinental express  train,  or  a  safety  block-signal  worth  ten  million  dollars. 

"Total  Abstinence  declares  whisky  and  brandy  to  be  neither  drugs 
nor  medicine,  but  depressants.  Law-breaking  drug  stores  are  taking 
notice  that  it  requires  a  saloon  license  to  sell  these  alcoholic  liquors. 

"Total  Abstinence  has  caused  many  physicians  and  State  Medical 
Societies  to  deal  John  Barleycorn  solar  plexus  blows.  He  has  led  the 
National  Society  of  Neurologists  and  Alienists  to  condemn  unqualifiedly 
the  use  of  alcoholic  beverages,  and  to  recommend  that  the  various 
state  legislatures  take  steps  to  eliminate  such  use. 

"Total  Abstinence  has  convinced  captains  of  industry  and  labor 
organizations  generally  that  the  'Water  Wagon'  is  the  only  'universal 
safety  device.' 

"Total  Abstinence  declares  that  even  moderate  drinking  is  an  un- 
told risk.  He  teaches  the  young  that  rational  self-control  means  ab- 
solutely no  drinking  of  alcoholics.  He  gives  to  society  an  example 
safe  and  beneficent  for  each  one  to  follow.  Scientific  and  illuminating 
truths  reveal  the  terrible  ills  that  alcohol  brings  to  body  and  soul ;  he 
impresses  these  truths  on  the  j'oung  minds  of  millions  of  school  chil- 
dren in  every  state,  territory  and   the  District  of  Columbia.     Total 


56 


The    Fight    for    a    Clear    Brain 

Abstinence  is  the  popular  subject  of  thousands  of  essays  written  by 
boys  and  girls  whose  slogan  is  'Where  there's  Drink  there's  Danger.' 

"Total  Abstinence  controls  the  ruling  of  many  life  insurance  so- 
cieties, who  affirm,  'We  prefer  total  abstainers  to  those  who  imbibe 
even  moderately.'  'The  mortality  is  heavier  among  drinkers  than  non- 
drinkers.'  'We  do  not  insure  the  lives  of  persons  engaged  in  the  sale 
or  manufacture  of  intoxicating  liquors.' 

"Total  Abstinence  organized  the  National  Abstainers'  Union,  under 
the  Federated  Council  of  Churches  of  Christ  in  America,  which  rep- 
resents over  seventeen  and  one  half  million  communicant  members. 
He  secured  on  the  latest  World's  Temperance  Sunday  one  million  sig- 
natures to  the  temperance  pledge.  At  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  Young  People's 
Branch  and  Loyal  Temperance  Legion  meetings  this  year  the  number  of 
pledge  signers  has  been  increased. 

"To  warring  nations  Total  Abstinence  utters  the  warning  cry — 'The 
nation  that  keeps  sober  is  the  nation  that  will  win.' 

"Total  Abstinence  has  increased  in  ten  years  the  sale  of  milk 
in  New  York  City  fifty  per  cent,  and  decreased  the  sale  of  beer.  He 
dominated  the  New  York  City  Health  Department  and  caused  it  to 
declare  an  educational  war  on  alcoholic  drink.  Commissioner  Gold- 
water,  when  inaugurating  this  campaign  said:  'The  Health  Board  will 
fight  the  rich  man's  champagne  as  well  as  the  poor  man's  beer.' 
By  means  of  posters,  illustrated  lectures  and  moving  pictures,  the 
ravages  of  alcohol  are  being  shown.  The  wise  and  fearless  commis- 
sioner announces  that  'it  is  as  necessary  to  battle  drink  as  to  fight  an 
epidemic' 

"Total  Abstinence  caused  the  state  of  Kansas  to  make  liquor  drink- 
ers or  cigarette  smokers  ineligible  to  office.  This  ruling  applied  to 
teachers  and  to  the  professional  classes  as  well  as  to  industrial  workers 
and  day  laborers.  Kansas  leads  the  nation  in  refusing  to  employ  brains 
muddled  by  alcohol. 

"Total  Abstinence  holds  a  high  place  beside  'Truth,'  as  an  ideal 
advocate  by  the  members  of  the  Associated  Advertising  Clubs  of  the 
world. 

"Total  Abstinence  has  received  the  unqualified  endorsement  of  many 
leading  educators,  who  have  reached  the  conclusion  that  alcohol  is  an 
unmitigated  evil,  and  who  assert  'that  a  man  who  takes  alcohol  in  even 

57 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


a  moderate  degree  is  harming  himself  physically,  mentally,  morally  and 
economically.' 

"Total  Abstinence  laid  its  compelling  hand  on  the  youth  of  our 
country  when  the  Associated  College  Newspaper  Publishers  in  their 
convention  a  few  weeks  ago  at  Columbia  University  voted  to  bar  liquor 
advertisements  from  their  publications. 

"Total  Abstinence  recently  so  controlled  the  state  convention  of 
Georgia  bankers  that  in  the  interest  of  efficiency  they  resolved 
to  exclude  wine  from  their  future  banquets.  Total  Abstinence  caused 
the  Georgia  Weekly  Press  Association  and  the  Georgia  police  chiefs  to 
take  even  stronger  action;  the  Press  Association  renounced  the  use  at 
their  meetings  of  intoxicants  of  any  kind,  including  near  beer,  and  the 
police  chiefs,  realizing  that  'the  dignity  of  sobriety  is  becoming  to  an 
officer  sworn  to  enforce  the  prohibitory,  law,'  determined  not  to  allow 
intoxicating  beverages  to  be  served  at  any  of  their  entertainments. 

"Total  Abstinence  was  championed  by  genial  'Bob'  Burdette,  who 
said:  'No  clause  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  declares  that  a 
Sunday  concert  garden  with  five  brass  horns  and  one  hundred  kegs  of 
beer  is  the  inalienable  right  of  a  free  people  and  the  corner-stone  of 
good  government.' 

"Total  Abstinence  has  reared  a  generation  of  voters  inimical  to  the 
traffic  in  alcoholic  liquors.  To  the  people  of  this  Christian  republic  he 
is  saying,  I,  Total  Abstinence,  will  give  to  you  health,  wealth,  efficiency 
and  prosperity.  To  the  oppressed  millions  who  shall  seek  America's 
hospitable  shores  I  will  be  a  life-giver  and  a  powerful  protector." 


58 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  World's  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 

The  present-day  "New  Internationalism"  was  preceded  by  an 
epochal  era  of  women's  unselfish  idealism  and  strategic  action.  History 
will  record  the  World's  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  as  a 
vital  factor  in  securing  this  new  inter-sphering  of  the  nations.  Frances 
Willard  was  the  first  leader  of  a  temperance  or  philanthropic  organiza- 
tion to  send  across  the  Pacific  the  spiritual  cable  of  good-will  and  under- 
standing. The  story  of  the  World's  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  is  a  story  of  heroism.  A  family  of  nations  promoting  peace, 
purity,  prohibition,  the  enfranchisement  of  women  and  the  establishment 
of  courts  of  arbitration  to  banish  war  from  the  world,  has  been  the 
beckoning  goal. 

Today,  fifty  nations  are  federated  in  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.,  the 
new  parliament  of  women,  the  new  "Federation  of  the  World."  This 
international  movement,  organized  in  1883,  antedates  the  present  in- 
ternationalism by  more  than  four  decades.  In  unifying  and  forwarding 
the  reforms  which  are  of  equal  importance  to  all  nations,  the  World's 
W.  C.  T.  U.  has  secured  unprecedented  results.  These  victories  presage 
the  fulfillment  of  Matthew  Arnold's  prophetic  dictum:  "If  ever  the 
world  sees  a  time  when  women  shall  come  together  purely  and  simply 
for  the  benefit  and  good  of  mankind,  it  will  be  a  power  such  as  the 
world  has  never  known." 

"For  God  and  Home  and  Every  Land"  became  the  new  watch- 
word. "We  are  a  world's  republic  of  women — without  distinction  of 
race  or  color — who  recognize  no  sectarianism  in  religion,  no  sectionalism 
in  politics,  no  sex  in  citizenship,"  said  Frances  Willard.  "Each  of  us 
is  as  much  a  part  of  the  world's  union  as  is  any  other  woman;  it  is 
our  great,  growing,  beautiful  home.  The  white  ribbon  includes  all  re- 
forms; whatever  touches  humanity,  touches  us." 

The  founding  of  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  the  outcome  of 
Miss  Willard's  visit,  in  1883,  to  the  city  of  San  Francisco,  California. 
It  was  Anna  Gordon's  high  privilege  to  accompany  her.  With  sorrow- 
ful hearts  the  two  visitors  walked  through  the  streets  of  Chinatown — 
that  one-time  vice  and  opium  section  of  San  Francisco.  In  the  presence 
of  occidental  avarice  and  oriental  degradation,  there  came  to  Miss 
Willard  a  distinct  illumination,  resulting  in  this  solemn  decision:  "But 

59 


r 


Women    Torc  h- be  arer  s 


}  for  the  intervention  of  the  sea,  the  shores  of  China  and  the  Far  East 

L^       would  be  part  and  parcel  of  our  fair  land.     We  are  one  world  of 

\        tempted  humanity;  the  mission  of  the  white  ribbon  women  is  to  or- 

^       ganize  the  motherhood  of  the  world  for   the  peace   and  purity,   the 

\      protection  and  exaltation  of  its  homes.     We  must  sound  forth  a  clear 

y     call  to  our  sisters  across  the  seas,  and  to  our  brothers  none  the  less. 

./     We  must  be  no  longer  hedged  about  by  the  artificial  boundaries  of 

I       state  and  nation.     We  must  utter,  as  women,  what  a  great  and  good 

finan  long  ago  declared  as  his  watchward,  'The  whole  world  is  my 

parish,  and  to  do  good  is  my  religion.'  " 

In  1884,  the  first  clarion  call  for  world  prohibition,  world  purity, 
and  freedom  from  the  opium  trade  was  written  by  Frances  Willard  in 
her  study  at  historic  Rest  Cottage,  Evanston,  Illinois.  This  "Polyglot 
Petition"  was  addressed  to  the  "Honored  rulers,  Representatives  and 
Brothers,"  of  all  governments.  It  reads:  "We,  your  petitioners,  al- 
though belonging  to  the  physically  weaker  sex,  are  strong  of  heart  to 
love  our  homes,  our  native  land,  and  the  world's  family  of  nations. 
We  know  that  clear  brains  and  pure  hearts  make  honest  lives  and 
.  happy  homes,  and  that  by  these  the  nations  prosper  and  the  time  is 
brought  nearer  when  the  world  shall  be  at  peace.  We  know  that  in- 
dulgence in  alcohol  and  opium,  and  in  other  vices  which  disgrace  our 
social  life,  makes  misery  for  all  the  world,  and  most  of  all  for  us  and 
for  our  children.  We  know  that  stimulants  and  opiates  are  sold  under 
legal  guarantees  which  make  the  governments  partners  in  the  traffic 
by  accepting  as  revenue  a  portion  of  the  profits,  and  we  know  with 
shame  that  they  are  often  forced  by  treaty  upon  populations  either  ignor- 
ant or  unwilling.  We  know  that  the  law  might  do  much  now  left  un- 
done to  raise  the  moral  tone  of  society  and  render  vice  difficult.  We 
have  no  power  to  prevent  these  great  iniquities,  beneath  which  the  whole 
world  groans,  but  you  have  power  to  redeem  the  honor  of  the  nations 
from  an  indefensible  complicity.  We,  therefore,  come  to  j^ou  with  the 
united  voices  of  representative  women  of  every  land,  beseeching  you  to 
raise  the  standard  of  the  law  to  that  of  Christian  morals,  to  strip  away 
the  safeguards  and  sanctions  of  the  State  from  the  drink  traffic  and  the 
opium  trade,  and  to  protect  our  homes  by  the  total  prohibition  of  these 
curses  of  civilization  throughout  all  the  territory  over  which  your 
Government  extends." 

60 


The  Lady  Henry  Somerset  Mrs.  Margaret  Bright  Lucas 

Rosalind,  Countess  of  Carlisle 


World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  Petition  to  the  governments  of  the  world. 


The    World's    Woman's    Christian    Temperance    Union 

At  once,  opportunities  to  sign  this  appeal  were  given  to  individuals 
and  organizations.  The  petition  was  translated  into  the  languages  of 
many  nations.  Almost  every  tongue  used  by  the  peoples  of  the  world 
is  represented  in  the  signatures  and  endorsements.  Frances  Willard 
said,  "In  this  far-reaching  document  there  are  columns  of  Chinese 
women's  signatures  that  look  like  houses  that  Jack  built.  There  is  a 
list  of  Burmese  signatures  that  looks  like  bunches  of  tangled  worms. 
The  thousands  upon  thousands  from  the  spicy  Isle  of  Ceylon  are  enough 
to  make  a  shorthand  man  shudder;  the  incomprehensible  but  liquid 
vowels  of  the  Hawaiian  Kanaka  jostle  the  proud  names  of  English 
ladies  of  high  degree;  the  Spanish  of  haughty  senoras  of  Madrid  make 
the  same  plea  as  the  "her  mark"  of  the  converted  woman  of 
the  Congo.  There  are  Spanish  names  from  Mexico  and  the  South 
American  republics,  French  from  Martinique,  Dutch  from  Natal  and 
English  from  New  Zealand,  besides  the  great  home  petitions  from  the 
greater  nations.  The  total,  counting  men's  and  women's  signatures, 
endorsements,  and  attestations,  aggregates  seven  and  one  half  million." 
Thi&.jproclamation  was  first  presented  to  a  convention  for  signatures 
by  Mrs".  Mary  Bannister  Willard  at  the  International  Temperance 
Congress  in  Antwerp,  Belgium,  in  1885.  The  signatures  in  fifty 
languages  were  mounted  on  white  muslin  and  during  the  first  conven- 
tion of  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.,  held  in  Boston,  in  1891,  the  folds 
of  the  petition  draped  the  walls  of  historic  Faneuil  Hall  and  Tremont 
Temple. 

In  1895,  Frances  Willard  and  a  committee  representing  the  World's 
and  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  were  received  at  the  Executive  Mansion 
by  President  Grover  Cleveland,  and  formally  presented  to  the  United 
States  government  this  history  making  petition. 

During  the  same  year,  the  great  rolls  were  taken  to  London,  and 
were  the  central  feature  of  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention.  In 
Royal  Albert  Hall,  where  a  monster  demonstration  meeting  was  held, 
the  petition's  countless  folds  encircled  galleries  and  platform,  resembling 
a  huge  white  ribbon  into  which  had  been  woven  the  symbolic  badges 
of  the  great  host  of  women  who  in  every  land  are  publishing  the  tidings 
of  purity  and  total  abstinence.  A  few  weeks  later.  Miss  Willard  pre- 
sented the  petition  to  the  government  of  Great  Britain.  Her  Majesty, 
Queen  Victoria,  graciously  received,  two  richly  bound  illuminated 
volumes  containing  the  text  of  the  petition  and  the  photographed  signa- 

61 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


tures  of  thousands  of  Her  Majesty's  subjects  in  Great  Britain.  The 
presentation  of  these  elegant  volumes  was  made  possible  through  the 
generous  kindness  of  Lady  Henry  Somerset. 

In  .1897,  the  petition  adorned  Massey  Music  Hall,  Toronto,  Canada, 
on  the  occasion  of  the  fourth  convention  of  the  World's  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union.  Miss  Willard  did  not  live  to  fulfill  her 
earnest  desire  to  present  the  petition  to  the  Canadian  government,  and 
Mrs.  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens,  ably  represented  her  at  a  great  meeting 
held  in  Ottawa,  presided  over  by  Sir  Wilfred  Laurier.  At  the  Panama- 
Pacific  International  Exposition,  held  in  San  Francisco  in  1915,  the 
famous  petition  was  a  part  of  a  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Exhibit.  The 
petition  was  taken  to  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  was  a  notable  feature  of  the 
World's  and  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  exhibit  at  the  Methodist  Centenary 
celebration.  The  Polj^glot  Petition,  great  in  its  message,  has  become  a 
priceless,  revered  and  world-famed  document. 

In  1884,  Mary  Clement  Leavitt,  a  true  hearted,  gifted  Boston 
teacher,  became  the  first  world-wide  W.  C.  T.  U.  organizer.  Througn 
her  untiring  toil,  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  in  foreign  lands  became 
a  fact.  Mrs.  Leavitt  adventured,  at  her  own  expense,  and  took  the 
world  for  her  inheritance.  In  eight  years  of  constant  journeying — 
this  devoted  woman  expended  but  eight  thousand  dollars,  of  which  all 
but  one  thousand,  six  hundred  dollars  was  contributed  by  those  for 
whom  she  labored.  Local  unions  raised  three  thousand  dollars,  but 
Mrs.  Leavitt  drew  on  the  treasury  for  only  half  that  sum.  She 
traveled  100,000  miles  in  forty-three  different  countries;  crossed  the 
equator  eight  times;  held  over  1600  meetings;  had  the  services  of  229  dif- 
ferent interpreters  in  47  languages  and  formed  130  temperance  soci- 
ties,  86  of  them  W.  C.  T.  U.'s  and  23  branches  of  the  White  Cross. 
For  seven  years  she  never  saw  a  face  with  which  she  was  familiar,  and 
she  went  everywhere  alone.  She  said  "Always  I  found  some  touch  of 
nature  and  of  kinship,  and  was  treated  by  all  classes  of  men  as  kindly 
as  if  I  had  been  their  mother."     Was  not  hers  a  glorious  embassy?   ,/ 

When  Mrs.  Leavitt  fared  forth  to  Hawaii,  to  the  Orient  and  then 
around  the  world,  she  carried  with  her  an  attested  copy  of  the  Poly- 
glot Petition,  often  termed  the  Magna  Charta  of  the  home. 

The  self-sacrificing  group  of  organizers  that  through  four  decades 
have  represented  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  are  gratefully  remembered. 
The  organizers  now  (1924)  in  service  abroad  are  Miss  Flora  E.  Strout, 


62 


The    World's    Woman's    Christian    Temperance    Union 


who  has  just  completed  a  five  year  term  in  Burma,  Malaya  and  Ceylon  ; 
Miss  Hardynia  K.  Norville,  South  America;  Miss  Marj'  Campbell, 
India ;  Miss  Christine  Tinling,  China ;  Mrs.  Ren  Yen  Mei,  China ;  Miss 
Olifia  Johannsdottir,  Iceland.  Mrs.  Mrs.  Ren  Yen  Mei  of  China' re- 
tires from  world  service  this  year;  Miss  Tinling  returns  to  England. 
The  death  of  Miss  Johannsdottir,  just  announced,  is  a  sad  loss  to  the 
world. 

Altruistic  women  who  have  been  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  presidents, 
held  high  the  torch.  The  story  of  their  lives  would  fill  all  the  pages 
of  this  book.  Margaret  Bright  Lucas,  England,  sister  of  Hon.  John 
Bright,  served  from  1884-1890;  Frances  E.  Willard,  U.  S.  A.,  1891- 
1898;  Lady  Henry  Somerset,  England,  1900-1906;  Rosalind,  Countess 
of  Carlisle,  England,  1906-1921 ;  Anna  A.  Gordon,  U.  S.  A.,  was 
elected  president  at  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania  in  1922.  The  other 
general  officers  now  in  active  service  are:  Vice  president.  Miss  Dagmar 
Prior,  Denmark;  honorary  secretaries,  Miss  Agnes  E.  Slack,  England, 
and  Mrs.  Blanche  Read  Johnston,  Canada;  honorary  treasurer,  Mrs. 
Ella  A.  Boole,  U.  S.  A. 

Women  missionaries  of  various  church  denominations  in  many 
countries,  have  been  able  national  and  local  W.  C.  T.  U.  officers,  loyally 
co-operating  with  the  program  of  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  Without 
their  invaluable  aid  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  organizers  would  have  failed  to 
accomplish  their  constructive  work.  Today,  church  missionaries  are 
the  back-bone  of  "Foreign  W.  C.  T.  U.  auxiliaries"  that  "stand  by" 
as  they  push  to  the  front  the  native  W.  C.  T.  U.  organizations.  To 
this  date  eleven  conventions  have  been  held:  In  1891,  in  Boston; 
1893,  Chicago;  1895,  London,  England;  1897,  Toronto,  Canada; 
1900,  Edinburgh,  Scotland;  1903,  Geneva,  Switzerland;  1906,  Boston; 
1910,  Glasgow,  Scotland;  1913,  Brooklyn,  New  York;  1920,  London, 
England;  1922,   Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

The  first  convention  held  in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  in  1891,  as- 
sembled in  historic  Faneuil  Hall.  This  "cradle  of  liberty"  in  which  a 
woman's  meeting  never  before  had  been  held,  was  "rocked  by  womanly 
women"  so  said  Frances  Willard,  who  was  most  happy  in  initiating  so 
appropriate  a  proceeding.  Lady  Henry  Somerset,  President  of  the 
British  Women's  Temperance  Association,  was  the  guest  of  honor. 
Welcomed  and  presented  to  the  convention  by  Frances  Willard,  Lady 
Henry  charmed  her  hearers.     Glancing  about  the  hall,  at  the  statues 

63 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


and  paintings  of  revolutionary  heroes,  she  noted  last  of  all,  the  grace- 
fully entwined  flags  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States.  "Some- 
one asked  me,"  she  said,  "if  I  did  not  consider  it  an  insult  to  be  asked 
to  speak  in  a  hall  filled  with  mementos  of  America's  war  against  Great 
Britain.  'No,'  I  answered,  *I  am  glad  to  be  here  and  join  with  you 
in  a  peaceful  war  against  a  greater  enemy  than  ever  you  had  in  King 
George  III;  and  that  enemy  is  King  Alcohol — one  that  imperils  every 
home.  Let  us  together  work  for  his  downfall  and  for  the  enthronement 
throughout  the  world  of  peace,  purity  and  prohibition.'  " 

During  Lady  Henry's  memorable  visit  to  this  country,  she  expressed 
great  pleasure  in  meeting  many  notable  Americans.  One  of  the  most 
delightful  social  events  was  the  informal  reception  given  to  her, 
Frances  Willard  and  Anna  Gordon,  at  the  home  of  the  New  England 
poet,  John  G.  Whittier.  Appreciating  the  democracy  of  soul  of  his 
aristocratic  English  guest,  Mr,  Whittier  remarked  to  Lady  Henry, 
"You,  my  friend  from  old  England,  are  the  daughter  of  one  hundred 
Earls.  Frances  Willard  is  the  daughter  of  the  best  blood  of  Nev*^ 
England,  and  of  the  prairies,  and  I  am  only  a  singer  for  liberty;  yet 
we  are  of  one  mind  and  soul  in  our  ideals  for  the  betterment  of 
humanity."  Frances  Willard  naively  reminded  her  Quaker  friend 
of  the  encouragement  he  gave  her  when  years  before  he  had  written 
to  her,  "Thee  is  becoming  quite  a  conspicuous  figure  out  on  thy  prairies," 
At  the  request  of  Lady  Henry,  Mr.  Whittier  wrote,  iq  the  presence  of 
his  guests,  these  lines  to  be  placed  on  Anne  Whitney's  bust  of  Frances 
Willard : 

\^"She  knew  the  power  of  banded  ill. 

But  felt  that  love  was  stronger  still; 

And  organized   for   doing  good, 

The  world's  united  womanhood." 

Honorable  John  D,  Long,  former  Secretary  of  the  Navy  and  gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts,  acted  as  toastmaster  at  a  banquet  in  connection 
with  the  World's  W.  C,  T.  U,  convention  held  in  Boston,  Massachu- 
setts, in  1906,  He  paid  the  organization  the  following  gracious  tribute, 
"The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  is  not  a  fad  but  one  of 
the  agencies  of  that  universal  reform  in  society  and  politics  which  was 
never  under  more  vigorous  impulse  than  it  is  today.  The  members 
represent  the  best  and  deepest  convictions,  not  of  a  mere  sect  or  special 
organization,  but  of  all  good  men  and  women  the  world  over,  and  to 

64 


The    World^s    Woman^s    Christian    Temperance    Union 

that  extent  certainly  they  deserve  the  cordial  co-operation  of  all  who 
love  their  fellowmen." 

In  1913,  in  the  absence  of  the  president,  the  Countess  of  Carlisle, 
Mrs.  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens,  Vice-President  of  the  World's  W.  C. 
T.  U,.  presided  over  the  ninth  World's  convention  held  in  Brooklyn, 
New  York.  Mrs.  Stevens,  though  earnestly  requested  by  the  president 
to  be  a  candidate  for  the  highest  office,  refused  this  honor,  and  at  her 
solicitation  the  Countess,  when  cabled  of  her  unanimous  election  con- 
sented to  remain  as  president.  The  convention  hostess,  Mrs.  Ella  A. 
Boole,  president  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  New  York  state,  was  the  coad- 
jutor of  Mrs.  Stevens  and  Miss  Gordon  in  promoting  this  convention, 
which  proved  to  be  the  last  before  the  great  world  war,  and  one  of  far- 
reaching  influence.  The  severe  strain  of  the  tragic  years  that  passed  be- 
fore delegates  from  thirty  countries  assembled  in  London  in  1920,  did 
not  cause  the  women  of  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  to  break  their 
ranks.     The  bond  of  fellowship,  symbolized  by  the  white  ribbon,  held. 

At  the  international  assembly,  of  1920,  in  London,  England,  the  first 
to  meet  after  the  signing  of  the  world  war  armistice,  the  white  ribboners 
of  Germany  sent  a  letter  of  greeting.  The  delegates  were  warmly  re- 
ceived by  civic  and  church  leaders  and  a  special  service  was  held  for 
them  in  Westminster  Abbey.  The  proclamation  sent  out  by  Anna 
Gordon,  November  11,  1918,  the  day  the  armistice  was  signed,  gave  to 
this  convention  the  principles  and  plans  needed  for  future  work.  It 
reads:  "World  democracy,  world  peace,  world  purity  and  world 
patriotism,  demand  world  prohibition.  Representing  the  National 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  of  the  United  States,  a  republic 
about  to  write  prohibition  in  its  constitutional  law,  we  hereby  call 
upon  the  peoples  of  all  faiths  and  of  all  organizations  in  the  world's 
family  of  nations,  to  clasp  hands  with  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  and 
to  help  bring  to  full  fruition  its  hope  and  its  heroic  service  of  thirty- 
five  years  on  behalf  of  a  sober  world.  Science  declares  against  alcohol. 
Health  conservation  and  business  prosperity  demand  total  abstinence 
and  prohibition.  Together  let  us  agitate,  educate,  organize  and  legis- 
late, until  the  exalted  vision  of  the  founder  of  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U., 
Frances  E.  Willard,  is  realized;  until  the  Gospel  of  the  Golden  Rule 
of  Christ  is  worked  out  in  the  customs  of  society  and  in  the  laws  of 
every  land.  At  the  close  of  the  devastating  world  war,  in  the  white 
heat  of  the  limitless,  unparalleled  opportunities  of  a  new  international- 

65 


Women    Torc  h- be  arer  s 


ism,  depending  upon  the  help  of  Grod  and  of  all  who  love  humanity 
we  hereby  proclaim  the  triumph  of  world  prohibition."  (Rest  Cottage, 
Evanston,  Illinois,  U.  S.  A.) 

It  was  the  writer's  privilege,  in  1886,  to  attend  as  her  first  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.  convention,  the  annual  gathering  held  in  Minneapolis, 
Minnesota.  Here  she  saw  the  gracious  welcome  extended  to  Mrs. 
Margaret  Bright  Lucas  of  England,  the  sister  of  John  Bright,  the 
great  English  Commoner.  Frances  Willard  asked  the  delegates  from 
all  sections  of  the  country  to  rise  in  groups — the  east,  the  west,  the 
north,  the  south — and  give  Mrs.  Lucas  a  welcome  salute.  The  great 
structure  was  cold,  but  the  honored  guest,  when  asked  if  she  were 
not  suffering  from  the  chilly  conditions,  exclaimed:  "No,  indeed! 
Such  a  sight  as  this  is  enough  to  warm  anybody's  blood.  I  wish  our 
English  women  would  come  to  our  help  in  such  large  numbers  and 
be  as  enthusiastic  as  are  these  women  before  me!"  Although  over 
seventy  years  of  age,  Mrs.  Lucas  was  traveling  constantly,  and  or- 
ganizing. The  British  Women's  Temperance  Association,  founded  in 
1876  at  Newcastle-on-Tyne,  was  the  outcome  of  an  inspiration  caught 
by  Mrs.  Margaret  Parker  from  "Mother"  Stewart  and  other  Ameri- 
can Crusaders. 

Rosalind,  Countess  of  Carlisle,  deeply  regretted  that  it  was  im- 
possible for  her  to  attend  any  American  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  conven- 
tions. However,  she  was  personally  and  officially  represented  by  mem- 
bers of  her  family — her  husband,  Lord  Carlisle,  and  her  gracious  daugh- 
ters. Lady  Dorothy  Henley  and  Lady  Aurea  Howard.  Her  eldest 
daughter  is  Lady  Cecilia  Roberts,  whose  husband  for  years  was  the 
champion  of  temperance  legislation  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Another 
daughter,  Lady  Mary  Murray,  is  the  wife  of  Professor  Gilbert  Murray 
of  Oxford  University  a  well-known  author  and  dramatist,  who  has 
written  and  spoken  most  forcefully  for  the  temperance  cause.  The 
Countess  of  Carlisle  was  president  of  the  British  Women's  Temperance 
Association,  as  well  as  president  of  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  to  which 
position  she  was  elected  at  the  convention  held  in  Boston,  Massachu- 
setts, in  1906.  She  was  a  great  pioneer,  a  woman  of  large  vision, 
great  in  her  giving,  great  in  her  spiritual  insight  and  outlook,  great 
in  her  motherhood,  and  great  in  her  passing  from  this  life  to  the  next. 
Years  ago,  when  to  be  a  total  abstainer  was  to  be  considered  a  fanatic, 
Lord  and  Lady  Carlisle  banished  from  their  hospitable  board  all  alco- 


66 


The    World's    Woman's    Christian    Temperance    Union 

holic  beverages,  and  the  many  distinguished  men  and  women,  some  of 
England  and  America's  most  illustrious  writers  and  artists,  statesmen 
and  men  of  affairs,  who  were  royally  entertained  at  Castle  Howard, 
had  their  first  object  lesson  of  generous  hospitality  sans  alcohol.  The 
importance  of  the  influence  thus  exerted  may  be  measured  by  the  high 
social  standing  of  this  couple  in  the  hereditary  nobility  of  Great  Britain, 
and  by  their  prominence  among  those  who  are  constantly  endeavoring 
to  make  the  M^orld  a  better  place  in  which  to  live.  As  soon  as  the 
Earl  of  Carlisle  succeeded  to  the  title,  the  first  move  of  these  true 
patriots  was  to  open  their  wine-cellars  and  destroy  all  of  the  famous 
vintages,  some  of  the  finest  in  the  kingdom.  A  storm  of  indignation 
arose,  but  Lord  and  Lady  Carlisle  went  on  their  ways  unheeding,  and 
made  their  severance  with  the  liquor  traffic  complete  by  closing  all  the 
public  houses  and  retail  liquor  stores  on  the  great  estates  belonging  to 
the  family.  The  Countess  was  a  platform  speaker  of  great  ability. 
Gladstone  once  said  of  her  that  she  was  one  of  the  most  valuable  as- 
sets of  the  liberal  party,  and  Professor  Bunting,  an  editor  of  the  Con- 
temporary Review,  characterized  her  as  "the  only  woman  in  the  world 
I  should  describe  as  a  statesman." 

During  a  memorable  visit  Lady  Astor  paid  to  this  country,  many 
white  ribboners  participated  in  the  magnificent  welcome  accorded  her. 
In  one  of  her  eloquent  speeches.  Lady  Astor  said:  "This  is  a  man  and 
woman  governed  world.  Together  they  make  civilization  based  on 
Christianity  a  force — a  civilization  based  on  justice  and  mercy.  I  feel 
that  men  have  a  greater  sense  of  justice  and  women  of  mercy.  They 
must  borrow  our  mercy,  and  we  must  use  their  justice.  All  legisla- 
tion is  better  for  a  woman's  point  of  view.  Voting  is  not  enough; 
woman  must  think  for  herself  and  speak  'out  loud  in  meeting'  so  that 
the  minds  and  imaginations  of  men  will  be  stimulated  by  her  fresher 
vision.  American  prohibition  has  been  a  big  contribution  to  the  spirit- 
ual regeneration  of  the  world.  It  has  shown  itself  not  only  a  problem 
Wai  social  welfare  but  of  clean  politics  as  well.  Let  the  men  see  that 
we  desire  a  better,  safer  and  cleaner  world  for  our  children  and  their 
children.  By  doing  our  bit,  by  facing  unclean  things  with  cleanliness, 
by  facing  wrong  with  right,  by  going  fearlessly  into  all  things  that  may 
be  disagreeable,  we  will  somehow  make  a  better  world." 

In  October,  1923,  the  big,  beautiful  American  flag  that  on  special 
occasions  always  flies  from  the  elms  in  front  of  Rest  Cottage,  Evans- 

67 


Women    Torc  h- b  barer  s 


ton,  Illinois,  waved  a  welcome  to  honored  English  guests — Dame  Mar- 
garet Llo3'd  George  and  her  daughter,  Miss  Megan.  Mrs.  Lloyd 
George,  who  is  a  Dame  of  the  British  Empire,  by  a  decoration  con- 
ferred by  King  George  V,  an  honor  accorded  to  but  few  women,  has 
for  many  years  been  conspicuously  identified  with  the  British  Women's 
Temperance  Association.  She  is  an  officer  of  the  white  ribbon  organiza- 
tion in  Wales  and  has  devoted  much  of  her  time  to  speaking  in  its  in- 
terests there  and  in  England.  When  inspecting  the  beautifully  en- 
graved and  illuminated  book  of  testimonials  presented  to  Frances  Wil- 
lard  by  her  English  friends  and  admirers  while  in  Britain,  in  1893, 
Dame  Margaret's  face  lighted  up  as  she  remarked,  "And  I  saw  and 
heard  Frances  Willard  that  year  in  England."  On  her  return  to 
Great  Britain,  Dame  Margaret  made  no  attempt  to  conceal  her  favor- 
able impression  in  regard  to  prohibition  in  the  United  States,  which 
she  considers  a  permanent  policy  of  the  republic. 

Dame  Margaret  has  a  reputation  all  her  own  as  a  public  speaker 
and  a  leader  in  moral  reforms.  When  a  slight  illness  made  it  impos- 
sible for  her  husband,  the  ex-Premier,  to  meet  his  engagement  to  speak 
to  a  great  audience  of  Welsh  people  at  Orchestra  Hall,  the  first  day 
of  their  stay  in  Chicago,  Dame  Margaret,  on  very  short  notice,  stepped 
into  the  breach  as  his  substitute  and  delivered  an  eloquent  message 
from  the  women  of  Wales,  taking  as  her  theme  "World  Peace."  She 
pleaded  for  a  federation  of  all  the  English  speaking  women  of  the 
world  in  the  interests  of  international  peace.  "I  am  perfectly  sure  I 
voice  the  feeling  of  every  woman  in  America,  as  well  as  of  every  woman 
in  England,  when  I  say  we  are  sick  of  war.  If  the  women  of  America, 
Wales  and  England  would  combine,  I  think  the  combination  would  be 
so  powerful  that  no  one  would  dare  to  speak  of  warring  on  any  other 
nation." 

The  visits  of  these  notable  English  leaders  have  helped  to  bind 
closely  together  the  women  of  the  two  great  English-speaking  nations. 
Indeed,  the  entire  membership  of  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  forms  a 
World's  League  of  Friendship  which  cannot  fail  to  promote  interna- 
tional justice,  purity,  peace  and  prohibition.  As  America  is  the  country 
in  which  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  first  organized,  it  naturally  followed 
that  in  the  building  of  the  World's  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union,  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  the  United  States  should  furnish 
the  majority  of  organizers  and   workers.     Beginning   in    1897,    Mrs. 

68 


The    World's   Woman's    Christian    Temperance    Union 

Helen  M.  Stoddard  gave  in  Mexico  three  years  of  devoted  service  in 
pioneer,  organizing  and  educational  work.  She  w^as  follovi^ed  in  1900  by 
Mrs.  Addie  Northam  Fields,  vv^ho  for  several  years  systematically  and 
successfully  gave  scientific  temperance  instruction  in  the  public  schools. 
She  received  the  co-operation  of  the  liberal  educators.  Other  gifted 
leaders,  who  for  brief  periods  have  aided  W.  C.  T,  U.  work  in  Mexico 
are  Mrs.  Ella  Hoover  Thacher,  Mrs.  Nelle  Burger  and  Mrs.  H. 
H.  Faxon. 

The  Union  Signal  has  recorded  the  achievements  of  the  world- 
wide trips  of  organizers  and  resident  missionaries:  Dr.  Kate  C.  Bush- 
nell,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Wheeler  Andrew  and  Miss  Jessie  Ackerman ;  also 
the  admirable  service  in  Japan  of  Mary  Allen  West,  Clara  Parrish 
Wright,  Kara  Smart  Root,  Ruth  Frances  Davis  and  Flora  E.  Strout, 
and  the  white  ribbon  seed  sowing  in  South  Africa  of  Rev.  Alice  Palmer. 
Cuba  received  a  valuable  W.  C.  T.  U.  uplift  during  the  organizing 
visits  of  Mrs.  Florence  E.  Atkins  and  Mrs.  Elizabeth  A.  Perkins. 

In  1907-1908,  commissioned  by  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.,  Kath- 
arine Lent  Stevenson,  a  gifted  national  leader  and  president  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts W.  C.  T.  U.,  made  a  successful  W.  C.  T.  U.  world  survey. 
Mrs,  Stevenson  possessed  insight  as  well  as  imagination,  and  she  ob- 
served that  "western  civilization  was  imposing  its  vices  upon  the  native 
races."  She  emphasized  the  need  of  "removing  obstacles  from  the  path 
of  progress  as  a  vital  part  of  progress  itself.  We  must  cast  up  a  high- 
way so  that  the  king's  chariot  can  roll  on  to  triumphant  victory."  Mrs. 
Stevenson's  white  ribbon  songs  have  been  translated  into  many  lang- 
uages, and  she  helped  make  true  the  refrain  of  her  most  triumphant 
composition,  "We'll  take  the  world  for  Christ's  own  kingdom,  some 
glad  day." 

In  the  prohibition  campaign  in  Newfoundland,  in  1915,  Mrs.  Emma 
H.  Howland  of  Massachusetts,  who  was  the  successful  representative 
of  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  heartily  enjoyed  joining  with  the  devoted 
women  of  the  Newfoundland  W.  C.  T.  U.  in  this  victory  song,  "The 
rum  curse  has  been  doomed  at  last,  Newfoundland,  my  Newfoundland, 
And  Satan's  host  are  falling  fast,  Newfoundland,  my  Newfoundland. 
Our  sons  and  daughters  are  the  best.  In  all  that's  true  they  stand  the 
test.  We'll  sing  thy  praises  east  .and  west,  Newfoundland,  my  New- 
foundland." 

69 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


Mrs.  Deborah  Knox  Livingston,  in  her  tour  of  South  Africa,  in 
1922,  received  ovations  from  officials,  educators  and  temperance  work- 
ers. Everyvi^here  the  response  to  Mrs.  Livingston's  marvelous  message 
was  most  enthusiastic.  As  one  journalist  said,  "Mrs.  Livingston  told 
the  truth  and  pricked  the  bubble  of  the  evils  from  prohibition  very  effec- 
tively." 

In  response  to  urgent  appeals  from  New  Zealand  to  aid  its  pro- 
hibition campaigns  Mrs.  Eva  C.  Wheeler,  in  1920  and  Mrs.  Mary 
Harris  Armor,  in  1922,  took  the  long  journey  to  the  stalwart  dominion 
in  the  southern  seas. 

A  mighty  upward  impulse  was  given.  "New  Zealand's  Going  Dry," 
the  stirring  slogan  Mrs.  Armor  set  them  singing,  shouting,  praying 
everywhere  will  yet  be  triumphant.  The  United  States  tour  of  Mrs. 
Rachel  Don,  president,  and  Miss  Christine  Henderson,  corresponding 
secretary  of  New  Zealand  W.  C.  T.  U.,  to  see  for  themselves  the  bene- 
fits of  the  prohibition  law  will  greatly  aid  future  campaigns.  Three 
times  the  electorate  of  New  Zealand,  by  majority  vote,  has  declared  for 
the  dry  regime,  and  in  1925  it  is  confidently  believed  the  serious  handi- 
cap of  New  Zealand's  peculiar  election  laws  will  be  overcome.  If  the 
majority  vote  alone  could  have  determined  a  dry  victory  in  the  first,  as 
well  as  in  the  latest  campaign,  New  Zealand,  as  well  as  Iceland,  would 
have  antedated  the  United  States  of  America  in  adopting  the  national 
prohibition  policy. 

In  many  different  ways,  American  women  have  rendered  service 
for  other  lands,  some  for  a  short  time ;  others  for  many  years.  The  lack 
of  space  forbids  any  comment  on  this  heroic  work,  but  this  alphabet- 
ical list  of  names  covering  fifty  years  is  most  interesting : 

Miss  Jessie  Ackerman,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Wheeler  Andrew,  Mrs. 
Mary  Harris  Armor,  Mrs.  Florence  E.  Atkins,  Miss  Muriel  Ayres, 
Miss  Julia  Ames,  Mrs.  Ida  A.  T.  Arms,  Mrs.  Harriet  L.  Ayres,  Mrs. 
Layyah  Barakat,  Mrs.  Frances  J.  Barnes,  Mrs.  J.  K.  Barney,  Mrs. 
J.  W.  Bashford,  Mrs.  Ella  A.  Boole,  Miss  Adda  Burch,  Mrs.  Suessa 
Blaine,  Mrs.  Nelle  G.  Burger,  Dr.  Kate  C.  Bushnell,  Miss  Alice  E. 
Briggs,  Mrs.  Paul  Barnhart,  Mrs.  Ella  M.  Barnes,  Mrs.  John  W. 
Butler,  Miss  Mary  J.  Campbell,  Dr.  Mary  M.  Cutler,  Mrs.  Wilbur 
F.  Crafts,  Mrs.  L.  D.  Carhart,  Mrs.  David  Carter,  Mrs.  Anthony  W. 
Chez,  Mrs.  Benjamin  Chappell,  Mrs.  Mary  F.  W.  Anderson  Craw- 
ford, Miss  Anna  M.  Cummings,  Mrs.  E.  L.  Calkins,  Miss  Grace  A. 


70 


The    World's    Woman's    Christian    Temperance    Union 

Crooks,  Mrs.  Cornelia  K.  Carter,  Miss  L.  C.  Coombs,  Mrs.  S.  W. 
Ciemes,  Miss  Elizabeth  C.  Clarke,  Mrs.  Edith  Smith  Davis,  Miss 
Julia  PVeeman  Deane,  Mrs.  Mary  Owen  Denyes,  Mrs.  Fanny  Root 
Danser,  Mrs.  Margaret  B.  Denning,  Miss  Effa  Dunmore,  Miss  Joan 
Davis,  Mrs.  C.  L.  Davenport,  Mrs.  Margaret  Dye  Ellis,  Mrs.  Charlton 
Edholm,  Mrs.  Ruth  Schaffner  Etnier,  Mrs.  Addie  Northam  Fields, 
Mrs.  H.  H.  Faxon,  Mrs.  Dwight  Furness,  Mrs.  M.  J.  Farnham,  Miss 
Ellen  Groenendyke,  Miss  Jennie  M.  Glassey,  Mrs.  A.  W.  Greenman, 
Mrs.  Chauncey  Goodrich,  Miss  Elma  Grace  Gowen,  Miss  Anna  A. 
Gordon,  Mrs.  Alice  Gordon  Gulick,  Miss  Elizabeth  P.  Gordon,  Mrs. 
Mary  H.  Hunt,  Mrs.  Jeannette  G.  Hauser,  Mrs.  Franklin  E.  Hoskins, 
Mrs.  E.  R.  Hildreth,  Mrs.  Abbie  B.  Hillerman,  Mrs.  Clara  C.  Hoff- 
man, Miss  Helen  L.  Hood,  Mrs.  E.  P.  Herrick,  Mrs.  Emma  H.  How- 
land,  Miss  Jennie  V.  Hughes,  Miss  Lizzie  Hewett,  Mrs.  John  How- 
land,  Dr.  Rozetta  S.  Hall,  Miss  Isabella  M.  Hargrave,  Mrs.  May 
Pyne  Berry  Hawthorne,  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Johnson,  Mrs.  Lydia  B.  John- 
son, Mrs.  Octave  Jacqmain,  Mrs.  Azuba  Jones,  Mrs.  H.  H.  Jessup, 
Mrs.  B.  M.  Jones,  Miss  Belle  Kearney,  Miss  Elsie  J.  Keyser,  Mrs. 
Mary  Clement  Leavitt,  Mrs.  E.  Spencer  Large,  Mrs.  Deborah  Knox 
Livingston,  Miss  Rosa  E.  Lee,  Mrs.  Lora  LaMance,  Miss  Margaret 
Leitch,  Miss  Mary  Leitch,  Mrs.  W.  E.  Locke,  Mrs.  Mary  M. 
Love,  Mrs.  Caroline  E.  McDowell,  Mrs.  George  B.  MacFarland, 
Mrs.  G.  D.  Marsh,  Mrs.  Cornelia  Moots,  Mrs.  Florence  Perrine  Man- 
sell,  Miss  Hardynia  K.  Norville,  Mrs.  Josephine  R.  Nichols,  Mrs. 
Thomas  Nicholson,  Mrs.  Norton,  Mrs.  William  Oldham,  Rev.  Alice 
R.  Palmer,  Miss  H.  Frances  Parmalee,  Mrs.  Matilda  Patterson,  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  A.  Perkins,  Mrs.  Maude  B.  Perkins,  Mrs.  Mary  R.  Phillips, 
Mrs.  F.  B.  Price,  Miss  Virginia  L.  Pride,  Miss  Christine  Penrod,  Miss 
Mary  N.  Pearson,  Mrs.  F.  D.  Phinney,  Mrs.  Alice  Lewis  Pearson, 
Miss  Annie  Robbins,  Mrs.  Alys  Smith  Russell,  Miss  Helen  G.  Rum- 
sey,  Miss  Mary  Robinson,  Mrs.  Bertha  B.  Roach,  Mrs.  Helen  E. 
Rasmussen,  Miss  Lelia  Roberts,  Miss  Helen  L  Root,  Mrs.  Kara  Smart 
Root,  Mrs.  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens,  Mrs.  Ruth  Davis  Stevens,  Miss 
Flora  E.  Strout,  Mrs.  Hannah  Whitall  Smith,  "Mother"  Stewart, 
Miss  Mary  Campbell  Smith,  Mrs.  Katharine  Lent  Stevenson,  Mrs. 
Clara  A.  Shrigley,  Mrs.  E.  R.  Smart,  Miss  Ellen  M.  Stone,  Mrs.  Har- 
riet P.  Stone,  Miss  Cora  F.  Stoddard,  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Stuckenberg,  Miss 
M.  A.  Spencer,  Miss  Amy  Spalding,  Miss  Mary  F.  Swaney,  Mrs. 

71 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  are  r  s 


Levi  Salmans,  Mrs.  Kate  Lunden  Sunderlin,  Mrs.  Helen  M.  Stoddard, 
Miss  Christine  I.  Tinling,  Mrs.  Ella  Hoover  Thacher,  Dr.  Mary  Fovir- 
ler  Thompson,  Miss  Anna  Y.  Thompson,  Mrs.  Merritt  M.  Thompson, 
Mrs.  Henry  Topping,  Mrs.  Wilbur  P.  Thirkield,  Miss  Clara  Belden 
Tingley,  Miss  Bertha  K.  Tallon,  Mrs.  Anthony  Te  Paske,  Mrs,  Her- 
bert Taylor,  Rev.  Mecca  Varney,  Mrs.  Charles  P.  Vickery,  Miss 
Frances  E.  Willard,^Miss  Mary  Allen  West,  Miss  Emily  C.  Wheeler, 
Miss  Laura  M.  White,  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Woodbridge,  Mrs.  Mary  S. 
Whitney,  Mrs.  Mary  B.  Willard,  Mrs.  Jennie  Fowler  Willing,  Mrs. 
Clara  Parrish  Wright,  Miss  Nettie  Wilbur,  Miss  M.  H.  Watts,  Miss 
Anna  T.  Webb,  Miss  Winifred  S.  Woods,  Miss  Sadie  L.  WeTdner, 
Mrs.  Lenna  Lowe  Yost. 

During  fifty  years  of  our  organization,  there  has  been  scarcely  a 
National  W.  C.  T.  U.  superintendent  who  has  not  helped  in  some 
measure  abroad,  and  many  missionaries  of  the  various  churches  have 
been  our  strongest  allies.  The  names,  however,  that  follow  include 
only  the  Americaa  W.  C.  T.  U.  women  who  have  been  or  are  World's 
W.  C.  T.  U.  superintendents  or  editors,  or  who  have,  in  brief  visits  or 
through  generous  gifts,  aided  our  international  work: 

Mrs.  Martha  M.  Allen,  Dr.  Mary  Wood-Allen,  Mrs.  Hannah  J. 
Bailey,  Mrs.  Caroline  B.  Buell,  Mrs.  Summerfield  Baldvn'n,  Mrs. 
Helen  L.  Bullock,  Dr.  L.  Pearl  Boggs,  Mrs.  E.  B.  Bradley,  Mrs.  J.  V. 
Brewer,  Mrs.  Wilbur  F.  Crafts,  Mrs.  Clara  C.  Chapin,  Mrs.  Adelia 

E.  Carman,  Mrs.  M.  B.  Carse,  Mrs.  Joseph  Cook,  Mrs.  Maude  Car- 
man Cathcart,  Miss  Julia  Colman,  Mrs.  W.  Jennings  Demorest,  Mrs. 

F.  S.  Evans,  Miss  Mary  B.  Ervin,  Miss  Eva  Kilbreth  Foster,  Miss 
Elizabeth  W.  Greenwood,  Mrs.  Frances  W.  Graham,  Mrs.  Caroline 
F.  Grow,  Mrs.  Evalyn  Graham,  Mrs.  Anna  P.  George,  Dr.  Cordelia 
A.  Greene,  Dr.  Mary  T.  Greene,  Miss  Lillian  Herr,  Mrs,  Cornelia  T. 
Hatcher,  Mrs.  Stella  B.  Irvine,  Miss  Ella  G.  Ives,  Miss  Lucia  E.  F. 
Kimball,  Mrs.  Gertrude  Stevens  Leavitt,  Mrs.  S.  D.  LaFetra,  Mrs. 
Mary  F.  Lincoln,  Mrs.  Mary  F.  Lovell,  Mrs.  Mary  T.  Lathrap,  Mrs. 
Sarah  McClees,  Mrs.  Margaret  C.  Munns,  Mrs.  Emilie  D.  Martin, 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  O.  Middleton,  Mrs.  S.  L.  Oberholtzer,  Mrs.  Frances 
P.  Parks,  Dr.  Louise  C.  Purington,  Mrs.  Harriet  S.  Pritchar,  Mrs. 
Esther  T.  Pritchard,  Mrs.  George  Frederic  Rooke,  Miss  Rebecca  N. 
Rhoads,  Miss  Margaret  A.  Sudduth,  Miss  Jane  A.  Stewart,  Mrs. 
Dorcas  Spencer,  Mrs.  Ross  Hayes  Schachner,  Miss  Leila  M.  Sewall, 


72 


The    World^s    Woman's    Christian    Temperance    Union 

Mrs.  Mary  D.  Tomllnson,  Mrs.  Sarah  Phillips  Thomas,  Mrs.  Eva 
C.  Wheeler,  Mrs.  Mary  Sparks  Wheeler,  Mrs.  Jennie  Fowler  Willing 
Miss  Margaret  Whitechurch. 

How  the  Jubilee  dollars  helped  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  is  told 
by  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  treasurer,  Mrs.  Margaret  C.  Munns, 
as  follows:  "As  the  oldest  member  of  the  family  of  the  World's 
W.  C.  T.  U.,  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  the  United  States  would 
indeed  be  selfish  if  it  did  not  give  assistance  to  the  countries  struggling 
for  freedom  from  the  curse  of  alcohol.  South  America  naturally  ap- 
peals to  its  twin  continent.  The  plea  to  help  build  headquarters  in 
Argentina  and  Uruguay  resulted  in  contributions  of  $26,000  and  $15,- 
000  respectively.  Owing  to  favorable  exchange  conditions  these  gifts 
brought  a  substantial  increase  in  amount.  Native  workers  have  been 
employed  and  altogether  there  has  been  spent  in  South  America,  to 
the  end  of  the  fiscal  year,  1924,  $59,980.  Miss  Muriel  Ayres,  who 
was  sent  by  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  was  compelled  to  return  after 
about  two  years  on  account  of  ill  health. 

"China  has  had  the  advantage  of  three  years'  teaching  of  scien- 
tific temperance  in  her  schools  by  Miss  Christine  Tinling.  As  China 
is  depending  in  a  peculiar  way  upon  her  young  people  for  leadership, 
the  influence  of  Miss  Tinling's  work  cannot  be  overestimated.  The 
same  is  true  of  Mrs.  Frances  Willard  Wang  Liu,  a  young  Chinese 
woman  of  exceptional  ability,  educated  in  Northwestern  University, 
Evanston,  Illinois,  who  is  organizing  W.  C.  T.  U.'s  among  the  young 
women  of  China.  Into  the  work  in  China,  including  maintenance  of 
headquarters  and  translation  of  literature,  has  gone  $24,800.00  up  to 
the  end  of  the  1924  fiscal  year.  Scholarships  have  been  given  in  the 
Woman's  Christian  College  to  Miss  Sumi  Kananori  of  Japan,  a  grand- 
daughter of  Madame  Kaji  Yajima;  to  Salometh  Vincent  of  India  who 
studied  at  the  Isabella  Thoburn  College ;  and  to  Miss  Persis  F.  Stephens 
of  India,  At  the  Danforth  Memorial  Hospital  in  Kiukiang,  China,  a 
student  is  receiving  the  benefit  of  the  Anna  Gordon  Scholarship  estab- 
lished by  the  organized  young  people  of  the  National  W.  C  .T.  U. 
This  young  woman  is  being  trained  as  a  nurse, 

"Besides  these  countries,  financial  help  has  been  given  to  Ceylon, 
Burma,  France,  Italy,  Belgium,  Malaysia,  Sweden,  Finland,  Mexico, 
Cuba,  Germany,  Austria  and  Denmark.  The  National  W.  C.  T.  U. 
participated  in   the  campaigns  of   South   Africa    and    New    Zealand 

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Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


through  the  lecturing  trips  of  Mrs.  Deborah  Knox  Livingston  and  Mrs. 
Mary  Harris  Armor  to  those  countries.  The  Cuba  W.  C.  T.  U.  was 
reorganized  by  Mrs.  Florence  Atkins  ol  Georgia.  Consuelo  Valdez,  a 
bright  young  girl  from  the  Philippines,  was  in  this  country  a  year  pre- 
paring for  leadership  in  her  own  land.  Recently,  she  secured  many 
new  white  ribbon  members  as  she  organized  in  the  large  cities  in  her 
country.  She  attended  a  girls'  conference  in  a  beautiful 
mountain  city,  speaking  twice  in  the  platform  meeting,  and 
giving  a  short  study  course  on  alcohol.  Her  class  of  one  hundred 
members  were  very  enthusiastic  about  the  work  presented. 

"The  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  has  been  given  $18,000  for  the  aid  of 
its  great  program.  The  world  trips  of  Miss  Gordon  and  Miss  Deane 
to  Europe  and  South  America,  which  resulted  in  a  great  increase  of  in- 
terest in  every  country  visited,  and  the  trip  made  by  Miss  Gordon  to 
Mexico,  which  resulted  in  the  revival  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  in  Mexico, 
were  made  possible  by  the  Jubilee  Fund.  Altogether  there  has  been 
spent  for  World  Prohibition  up  to  the  close  of  the  1924  fiscal  year, 
$135,282. 

"It  is  easily  seen  that  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  has  added  an  in- 
calculable sum  to  the  legitimate  endeavors  of  the  organization  and 
multiplied  its  influence  in  geometric  progression." 

Twenty-one  republics  of  the  Western  Hemisphere,  twenty  of  them 
south  of  the  United  States,  are  brought  into  friendly  touch  through 
activities  centered  in  the  Pan-American  Building  in  Washington,  D.  C. 
Alcohol  is  the  curse  of  all  twenty  nations  that  constitute  Latin  America, 
In  Brazil  all  of  the  United  States,  excluding  Alaska,  could  be  placed 
and  have  a  margin  of  two  hundred  thousand  square  miles.  Pan-Amerf- 
canism,  a  Christian  and  a  temperance  international  fellowship  was 
strongly  emphasized  at  the  great  Panama  conference  on  Christian  work 
where  Miss  Hardynia  K.  Norville,  our  white  ribbon  herald  in  South 
America,  was  our  delegate. 

The  assembling  in  Washington  in  September,  192j3,  of  the  Fifteenth 
International  Congress  Against  Alcoholism  was  the  outstandmg  event 
of  that  year.  It  was  the  first  Congress  held  outside  of  Europe.  The 
leaders  of  our  organization,  national  and  international,  were  given  a 
notable  part  on  the  program.  The  W.  C.  T.  U.  legislative  represen- 
tative at  Washington,  Mrs.  Lenna  Lowe  Yost,  was  one  of  the  hostesses 
and  a  member  of  an  important  committee.     Mrs.  FVances  P.  Parks, 


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The    World's    Woman's    Christian    Temperance    Union 

national  corresponding  secretary,  made  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  exhibit  a  grand 
educational  success.  The  memorable  pageant  by  Mrs.  Suessa  Blaine 
was  of  marked  educational  value. 

Anna  Gordon  as  superintendent  of  the  Juvenile  Division  of  the 
World's  W.  C.  T.  U.,  early  rallied  in  many  countries,  enthusiastic  and 
successful  leaders.  Children's  choruses  and  demonstrations  were  lively 
features  of  white  ribbon  assemblies.  She  secured  three  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  names  of  children  to  the  total  abstinence  pledge.  The 
exhibit  was  an  enjoyable  feature  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  booth  at  the  Col- 
umbian Exposition  in  Chicago,  in  1893.  The  names  represented  chil- 
dren from  many  countries  who  had  contributed  three  thousand  dollars 
for  the  erection  of  a  fountain  which  later  was  presented  to  the  city  of 
Chicago,  and  now  stands  in  Lincoln  Park.  It  is  one  of  the  most  in- 
spiring works  of  art  that  any  reform  m.ovement  has  produced.  In 
popular  language  it  is  called  "The  Little  Cold  Wjtter  Girl"  and  repre- 
sents the  modern  movement  through  which  childrefn  have  become  a  rec- 
ognized factor  as  workers  for  the  good  of  the  world,  being  no  longer 
content  to  be  ministered  unto  with  a  cup  of  cold  water,  but  ready 
gladly  to  offer  it  to  others.  The  fountain  is  adapted  to  the  use  of  man 
and  to  his  four-footed  neighbors.  It  was  executed  by  Mr.  George 
Wade,  a  noted  London  sculptor.  The  same  figure  in  bronze  has  been 
unveiled  through  W.  C.  T.  U.  contributions  in  London,  and  a  third 
replica  is  a  memorial  to  Mrs.  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens  in  Portland,  Maine. 
The  Chicago  fountain  is  named  for  Miss  Willard,  the  one  in  London 
for  Lady  Henry  Somerset. 

Most  of  the  children  who  contributed  the  money  for  the  Willard 
Fountain  earned  their  gifts,  and  no  child  was  allowed  to  contribute 
more  than  a  dime.  The  child's  cup  bears  a  facsimile  of  the  badge  of 
the  Loyal  Temperance  Legion  and  a  suitable  inscription  marks  the 
fountain  as  childhood's  gift.  The  countries  of  United  States,  England, 
Canada,  Norway,  Australia,  Spain,  Japan,  Africa,  India,  France,  China 
and  Ireland,  are  represented  in  the  pledge  cards  and  gifts,  and  from 
unknown  sources  more  than  eight  thousand  cards  were  received,  A 
trip  to  a  large  city  in  Wales  occurred  during  a  visit  to  England  of 
Frances  Willard  and  Anna  Gordon.  One  of  the  delightful  incidents 
of  that  occasion  never  will  be  forgotten.  Lady  Henry  Somerset  had 
arranged  a  great  meeting  of  men  and  women  to  welcome  the  visitors  and 
many  representatives  of  temperance  organizations  came  to  the  platform 

75 


Women    Torc  h- b  barer  s 


to  bring  greetings.  Last  of  all  there  came  toddling  down  the  aisle  a 
little  boy  dressed  in  white  carrying  with  difficulty,  a  huge  bouquet  of 
beautiful  white  flowers.  Lady  Henry,  in  motherly  fashion,  stooped 
down  and  helped  the  child  walk  up  the  lofty  platform  steps.  Standing 
him  on  the  high  desk  in  front  of  the  audience,  Lady  Henry  exclaimed, 
amid  the  cheers  and  tears  of  happy  fathers  and  mothers,  "This  is  the 
reason  we  are  organized.  We  believe  in  formation  rather  than  reforma- 
tion." 

At  this  time,  Anna  Gordon  was  happy  to  organize  among  the  girls 
in  a  Home  in  Reigate,  England,  founded  in  honor  of  her  father,  by 
Lady  Henry  Somerset,  a  Young  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union. 
One  night,  in  lively  fashion  these  girls,  who  had  come  from  the  poor- 
est sections  of  London,  serenaded  Frances  Willard  and  their  "Y"  lead- 
ers, singing  enthusiastically  a  white  ribbon  song.  This  led  to  their 
participation  in  the  exercises,  on  a  certain  evening,  at  a  great  rally  in 
Royal  Albert  Hall,  London,  under  the  auspices  of  the  British  Women's 
Temperance  Association. 

An  action  song  was  announced  on  the  program,  but  few  of  the  audi- 
ence were  prepared  for  the  touching  and  pathetic  object-lesson  now 
given.  To  the  melody  of  the  "Battle  Song  of  the  Y's,"  a  group  of 
little  children,  ragged,  dirty  and  unkempt,  from  the  East  London 
slums,  came  upon  the  front  of  the  platform.  They  looked  about  with 
amazement  upon  the  sea  of  faces,  the  distant  lights  and  the  warm 
coloring,  touching  curiously  with  their  grimy  hands  the  dresses  of 
those  seated  near  them.  Led  by  the  "Sisters  of  the  Poor" — the  young 
girls  from  Reigate — they  sang  the  affecting  words  of  Mary  T.  Lathrap : 

"There's  a  shadow  on  the  home,  many  hearts  are  sad  to-day, 

It  hushes  e'en  the  laughter  of  the  children  at  their  play. 

At  its  coming  want  and  sorrow  across  the  threshold  creep. 

And  amid  their  broken  idols  the  mourning  mothers  weep." 
As  the  sounds  ceased,  across  the  great  auditorium  came  children's 
voices  in  the  words  of  the  bright  chorus: 

"We  are  coming  to  the  rescue  we  are  coming  in  our  youth! 

The  homes  we  build  to-morrow  shall  be  guarded  by  the  truth ; 

We  are  coming,  coming  to  the  battle  of  purity  and  right; 

And  for  a  winsome  token  Ave  wear  the  ribbon  white." 
And  a  troop  of  well  clad  children  came  down  the  aisle  bearing  the 
white   ribbon;  they  swarmed   upon   the  platform   encircling  with   the 


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The    World^s    Woman's    Christian    Temperance    Union 

"winsome  token"  the  sad  little  group  there  gathered  and  singing  their 
encouraging  words.  Never  was  there  given  a  more  affecting  and 
striking  object-lesson. 

In  the  forceful  address  given  by  the  commander  of  the  Salvation 
Army,  Evangeline  Booth,  at  the  latest  convention  of  the  World's 
W.  C.  T.  U.  in  Philadelphia,  she  made  this  heartfelt,  throbbing  ap- 
peal for  the  children:  "Let  the  children  speak — the  little  children,  the 
wronged  children,  the  crippled  children,  the  abused  children,  the  blind 
chil(lren,  the  imbecile  children,  the  nameless  children,  the  starved  chil- 
dren, the  deserted  children,  the  beaten  children,  the  dead  children! 
O  my  God,  this  army  of  little  children!  Let  their  weak  voices,  faint 
with  oppression,  cold  and  hunger,  be  heard!  Let  their  little  faces 
pinched  by  want  of  gladness,  be  heeded!  Let  their  challenge,  though 
made  by  small  forms — too  mighty  for  estimate — be  reckoned  with! 
Let  their  writing  upon  the  wall  of  the  nation,  although  by  tiny  fingers, 
as  stupendous  as  eternity,  be  correctly  interpreted  and  read,  that  the 
awful  robbery  of  the  lawful  heritage  of  their  little  bodies,  minds,  and 
souls  may  be  justly  laid  at  the  brazen  gate  of  Alcohol!" 

Dr.  Charles  Mayo,  the  famous  surgeon,  recently  said:  "Protection 
of  the  health  of  children  is  today  the  world's  greatest  need.  The  lives 
of  countless  little  children  are  sacrificed  because  of  lack  of  proper 
care.  Education  and  health  must  be  coupled.  Education  helps  from 
the  neck  up,  while  health  makes  for  the  whole  man.  Health  and  edu- 
cation are  inseparable." 

Miss  Agnes  E.  Slack  of  London,  honorary  secretary  of  the  World's 
W.  C.  T.  U.,  for  many  years,  has  organized  progressive  white  ribbon 
groups  in  countries  on  the  continent  and  has  helped  place  the  W.  C. 
T.  U.  on  the  map  of  Europe.  In  those  nations  that  are  still  strug- 
gling to  overcome  organized  opposition,  literally  millions  are  standing 
for  total  abstinence  and  the  abolition  of  the  drink  trade.  How  cheer- 
ing it  is  to  note  that  all  India  is  awakening  to  the  drink  menace  and 
India's  one  native  woman  ruler.  Her  Highness,  Nawad  Sultan  Jahan, 
Begum  of  Bhopal,  has  proclaimed  prohibition  for  her  people.  Her 
Highness  sensibly  considers  the  welfare  of  her  subjects  vastly  more 
important  than  a  revenue  from  the  liquor  traffic.  India's  daughters 
are  taking  their  rightful  places  in  the  new  life  which  is  surging 
through  the  land.  Five  young  women  of  high  class  have  accepted  the 
positions  of  organizing  secretaries  for  the  India  W.  C.  T.  U.    Burma's 

77 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


government  has  placed  scientific  temperance  teaching  in  the  curricula 
of  all  government  and  government-aided  schools.  A  talented  native 
organizer  is  establishing  W.  C.  T.  U.'s  among  her  own  people.  The 
president  of  the  Palestine  W.  C.  T.  U.  is  one  of  ten  women  forming 
an  advisory  council  to  the  British  administration.  This  council  stands 
for  prohibition  and  has  asked  for  a  scientific  temperance  school  law. 
The  British  high  commissioner,  a  Jew,  favors  prohibition  as  does  also 
the  English  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  a  convert  since  his  visit  to  the  United 
States. 

A  number  of  the  countries  are  fortunate  in  having  as  chief  ex- 
ecutives those  who  favor  the  outlawing  of  the  liquor  traffic.  Lined  up 
with  President  Coolidge  of  the  United  States  are  President  Hainisch  of 
Austria  and  President  Masaryk  of  Czecho-Slovakia.  The  mother  of 
President  Hainisch  for  many  years  has  been  an  ardent  W.  C.  T,  U. 
worker  and  is  now  the  honorary  president  of  the  white  ribbon  society 
of  the  Austrian  republic. 

The  young  people  of  Germany,  including  many  university  students, 
are  breaking  away  from  the  drink  traditions  of  their  country,  as  they 
recognize  in  the  drink  habit  one  of  its  great  handicaps.  The  Egyptian 
W.  C.  T.  U.  has  secured  the  signatures  of  six  thousand  Egyptian  women 
to  a  petition  asking  Parliament  for  the  abolition  of  the  manufacture 
and  sale  of  liquor.  At  a  great  rally  in  Cairo  called  to  proclaim  this 
petition.  Dr.  Morton  Howell,  United  States  Minister,  presided,  and 
His  Highness  Prince  Mohammed  Ali  was  a  sympathetic  platform 
guest.  Practically  all  the  new  republics  of  Europe,  including  Esthonia, 
Latvia  and  Lithuania — new  members  of  our  World's  W.  C.  T.  U. 
family — are  enacting  laws  against  the  beverage  alcohol  trafHc.  The 
Latvian  Parliament  has  adopted  a  law  on  the  teaching  of  hygiene 
in  the  schools  with  special  reference  to  the  danger  of  alcohol. 

For  some  years  South  Africa  has  been  trying  to  secure  a  local 
option  law.  In  1923,  the  measure  lacked  only  a  few  votes  of  passing 
the  Parliament.  The  wife  of  Premier  Jan  Smuts  is  said  to  be  a 
friend  of  the  dry  movement.  For  the  protection  of  the  native  races — 
which  outnumber  the  white  five  to  one — the  necessity  for  prohibition 
of  the  drink  traffic  is  apparent.  For  four  decades  educational  tem- 
perance work  has  been  carried  on  among  the  young  people  and  children 
of  China.  Thousands  have  been  reached  in  the  schools  and  colleges 
of    Central    China.      Military   leaders   and   government   officials   have 


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The    World^s    Woman^s    Christian    Temperance    Union 

given  their  approval  and  aid  to  W.  C.  T.  U.  w^ork.  The  Parliament 
of  Japan  has  enacted  a  law  forbidding  the  sale  of  liquor  to  minors. 
This  is  the  tenth  country  to  pass  such  a  beneficent  measure.  Svi^eden, 
Norway,  Denmark,  Finland  and  Iceland  form  a  sturdy  quintet  of  Scan- 
dinavian countries  determined  to  outlaw^  beverage  alcohol.  In  Brussels, 
Belgium,  scientific  temperance  instruction  has  been  introduced  in  schools. 
Emile  Vandervelde,  the  Socialist  deputy,  has  announced  in  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies  that  he  will  move  for  the  enactment  of  a  dry  law  for 
Belgium  similar  to  the  prohibition  law  in  operation  in  the  United 
States.  The  announcement  was  made  in  the  course  of  a  debate  on 
a  proposed  measure  for  increasing  the  duty  on  alcohol  for  consumption. 
The  Italian  Medical  Congress  has  endorsed  a  government  program 
for  restricted  consumption  of  alcohol.  Premier  Mussolini,  while  not 
favoring  prohibition  for  Italy,  has  said,  "Wine  and  spirit  drinking 
must  no  longer  corrupt  and  debauch  the  Italian  race." 

The  December,  1923,  election  in  England  was  a  victory  for  the 
opponents  of  the  drink  trade.  The  new  premier,  Ramsay  MacDonald, 
is  a  pronounced  dry.  He  says:  "Everyone  admits  that  the  drink  prob- 
lem is  pressing  from  a  moral  and  economic  point  of  view.  The  trade 
has  become  a  menace  to  the  public  and  to  the  country.  It  corrupts 
politics."  The  labor  party  declared  that  "it  would  place  the  drink 
traffic  under  popular  control."  The  liberal  party  went  further  and 
stated  that  "the  excessive  consumption  of  alcoholic  drink  is  one  of 
the  main  causes  of  unemployment,  disease  and  poverty;  and  the  right 
of  the  citizens  of  a  locality  to  decide  for  themselves  the  drink  facil- 
ities in  their  own  area  should  no  longer  be  withheld." 

Commissioned  by  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  to  make  a  World's 
W.  C.  T.  U.  survey,  Miss  Gordon,  accompanied  by  Miss  Julia  Free- 
man Deane,  the  gifted  editor  of  The  Union  Signal,  at  the  close  of 
the  London  Convention  in  1920  visited  many  European  countries, 
stabilizing  the  work  already  organized,  encouraging  the  leaders  and 
securing  others  who  would  specially  aid  in  scientific  temperance  work 
in  the  schools.  Miss  Deane's  journalistic  assistance  was  invaluable. 
In  1921  these  flaming  heralds  of  Christian  democracy  and  the  protec- 
tion of  the  home,  traveled  20,000  miles  to  visit  Peru,  Chile,  Argentina, 
Uruguay  and  Brazil.  Their  visit  to  Panama  was  given  publicity  by 
"Sancocho"  whose  "News  in  Rhyme"  is  a  feature  of  the  Panama  Star 
and  Herald.    From  his  fourteen  humorous  verses  one  is  quoted : 

79 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


"And  Mistress  Anna  Gordon 
Is  coming  down  this  way, 
And  says  the  whole  world  will  be  dry 
At  an   early  future  day." 

In  her  report  of  this  survey  Miss  Gordon  said,  "With  admiration 
and  hope  the  leading  men  and  women  of  our  twin  continent  have 
watched  North  America's  deliverance  from  the  legalized  liquor  traffic. 
Educators,  legislators,  leaders  in  social  life,  students,  and  thousands 
of  public  school  children  gave  to  the  representatives  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 
a  wonderfully  enthusiastic  welcome.  Crowded  assemblies  in  dignified 
University  Halls  testified  to  the  determined  purpose  of  South  America 
to  emulate  the  temperance  triumph  of  the  United  States.  In  charming 
fiestas,  and  nature  pageants  in  handsome  theaters  boys  and  girls 
proclaimed  the  personal  and  public  benefit  of  aqua  pura.  Prohibition 
is  a  live  issue  in  Chile,  Argentina,  Brazil,  Paraguay,  and  Uruguay. 
Senor  Alessandri,  when  President  of  the  Republic  of  Chile,  backed  an 
extremely  active  campaign  to  make  the  republic  dry,  studying 
with  keen  interest  the  development  in  California  and  elsewhere,  of 
the  food  uses  of  the  grape.  The  Uruguayan  republic  co-operated  with 
the  anti-alcohol  league  of  women  federated  to  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U. 

"Tell  us  how  you  did  it,"  was  the  universal  appeal.  During  their 
three  months'  trip,  tens  of  thousands  heard  from  platform  and  press  the 
wonder-story  of  the  progress  and  prosperity  that  prohibition  has  brought 
to  the  sister  republic — the  United  States  of  America.  Miss  Hardj'nia 
K.  Norville,  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  representative,  assisted  for  two 
years  by  Muriel  Ayres  of  New  York,  is  loyally  supported  by  government 
officials,  women  of  the  highest  social  circles,  leading  educators.  Bishop 
and  Mrs,  Oldham  and  many  other  Americans  and  British  missionaries 
and  friends. 

In  the  early  spring  of  1922,  Miss  Gordon  made  a  survey  of  the  work 
in  Old  Mexico.  This  trip  was  a  part  of  the  world-survey  made  possible 
by  the  Jubilee  Fund  of  the  National  W,  C.  T.  U.  On  her  return  to  the 
United  States,  Miss  Gordon  prophesied  that  in  a  new  and  significant 
sense  her  countrymen  would  learn  to  say,  "Our  Mexico"  as  they,  in  fel- 
lowship, shall  exclaim  "Our  United  States."  Miss  Gordon  was  greatly 
pleased  at  the  eager  response  by  Mexican  adults,  young  people,  and  chil- 
dren to  the  white  ribbon  appeal.  After  a  few  weeks  of  visitation  and 
co-operation,  she  reported  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  Mexico  "well 


80 


The    World^s   Woman^s    Christian    Temperance    Union 

equipped  with  officers,  with  a  national  organizer  and  superintendents  of 
the  most  essential  departments."  Senorita  Ernestina  Alvarado,  the  new- 
ly elected  young  president,  has  studied  in  the  United  States  and  is  deeply 
interested  in  social  welfare  work.  Mrs.  Dwight  Furness  who  was 
elected  to  the  vice-presidency,  but  was  then  in  the  United  States  promised 
assistance  through  correspondence. 

Miss  Gordon  was  gratified  to  find  that  the  program  of  Christian  edu- 
cation in  Mexico  has  a  large  place  for  scientific  temperance  instruction. 
She  saw  the  fruit  of  the  four  years  of  unstinted  devotion  to  anti-alcohol 
propaganda  given  largely  in  the  schools  by  Mrs.  Addie  Northam  Fields. 

One  day  a  young  nobleman  on  horseback  rode  impatiently  up  and 
down  the  streets  of  a  village  in  Cornwall.  He  was  seeking  for  a  public 
house,  where  he  could  get  a  glass  of  that  concerning  which  our  Shakes- 
peare said,  "Alas!  that  man  should  put  an  enemy  in  his  mouth  to  steal 
away  his  brain !"  but  his  search  was  vain,  and  coming  upon  a  white  haired 
peasant  on  his  way  home  after  a  day  of  toil,  the  young  man  said,  with 
rising  anger,  "Why  is  it  that  I  cannot  get  a  glass  of  liquor  in  this 
wretched  little  village?"  The  old  man  recognized  to  whom  he  was  to 
speak,  and  taking  off  his  cap,  made  his  humble  obeisance  as  he  replied. 
"My  lord,  about  a  hundred  years  ago  a  man  named  John  Wesley  came 
to  these  parts"  and  the  old  man  walked  on.  "A  hundred  years!'  and  he 
was  living  still. 

In  1974,  the  children  and  children's  children  of  white  ribboners  living 
in  a  sober  world,  will  be  saying,  "Our  homes  are  safeguarded  today  be- 
cause one  hundred  years  ago,  under  the  leadership  of  Frances  Willard, 
the  white  ribbon  women  of  the  world  united  against  the  greatest  enemy 
the  home  ever  has  known." 

The  president  of  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  is  also  one  of  the  three 
presidents  of  the  World  League  Against  Alcoholism.  At  the  convention 
of  this  organization  held  in  Toronto  in  1923,  immediately  after  the 
World's  convention  of  the  W.  C.  T,  U.  in  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania, 
Anna  Gordon  said,  "My  soul  is  thrilled  by  the  significance  of  this  gath- 
ering. I  thank  God  that  the  World's  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  is  a  part  of  this  great  World  League  Against  Alcoholism.  I  am 
glad  our  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention,  with  representatives  from 
twenty-five  countries  and  over  five  hundred  delegates,  each  one  represent- 
ing one  thousand  dues-paying  members,  sent  greetings  to  this  convention. 
There  must  be  co-operation  if  we  want  to  gain  a  dry  victory,  and  co- 

81 


Women    Torc  h- be  arer s 


operation  if  we  want  to  hold  a  dry  victory.  Tonight  we  can  rejoice 
that  the  leading  dry  forces  in  this  and  other  lands  have  determined  to 
get  together  on  a  policy  and  a  program  to  help  bring  about  a  condition 
in  the  world  that  will  make  it  brighter  for  women,  happier  for  humanity, 
and  safer  for  little  children." 

The  method  of  transportation  is  one  of  the  problems  in  arranging 
for  a  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention.  Civilization  continues  to  pass 
important  milestones.  Arrangements  for  a  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  con- 
vention will  yet  be  made  by  providing  the  necessary  number  of  airships 
for  the  journey.  Lieutenant  A.  E.  Reed,  who  heroically  commanded 
the  magical  ship  of  the  air  that  first  completed  an  ocean  flight,  says  that 
no  drinking  of  intoxicants  before  or  during  the  flight  across  the  Atlantic 
was  allowed.  "Safety  First"  demands  that  airships  shall  be  kept  high 
and  dry.  One  of  the  leading  magazines  is  responsible  for  a  witty  and 
pathetic  incident  about  the  appearance  in  a  country  town  of  the  first 
airplane.  Near  the  edge  of  the  crowd  stood  a  black  mammy  and  Uncle 
George,  a  little  old  darky  with  a  fringe  of  white  whiskers  around  his 
gentle,  wrinkled  face.  As  the  plane  appeared  in  the  distant  sky.  Aunt 
Amelia  rocked  her  huge  body  back  and  forth  in  true  camp  meeting  style 
and  beating  her  hands  in  time  to  the  swaying,  cried.  "Thank  the  Lord; 
thank  the  Lord."  Uncle  George  gazed  up  in  silence  until  the  wonder 
came  very  near.  Then,  raising  his  hands  devoutly,  he  exclaimed :  "I'se 
ninety  years  old  and  dat's  the  onliest  piece  of  God's  furniture  I  eber 
seen." 

For  the  last  four  decades,  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  women  of  the  Orient 
have  been  listening  intently  and  hopefully  to  the  message  of  international 
good-will.  It  was  November  7,  1921 ,  and  the  attention  of  all  the  world 
was  centered  on  the  Conference  for  the  Limitation  of  Armaments,  then 
assembling  at  the  White  House  in  Washington,  D.  C.  Everyone  wel- 
comed Madame  Kaji  Yajima,  tlie  Frances  E.  Willard  of  Japan,  who 
in  her  ninetieth  year,  traveled  8,000  miles  to  present  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  a  peace  petition  from  her  countrywomen. 

It  was  Anna  Gordon's  happy  privilege,  representing  the  World's 
W.  C.  T.  U.,  to  present  Madame  Yajima  to  President  Harding.  Stand- 
ing beside  them  were  leaders  of  the  major  women's  organizations  of  the 
country — a  remarkably  significant  group.  With  a  serene  smile,  and 
charming  naturalness,  this  venerable  gentlewoman  whom  the  Mikado 
had  decorated  for  her  patriotic  and  humanitarian  service,  said  to  the 


82 


(Above)  Miss  A.  Amy  Spalding;  (in  centre)  Miss  Christine  I.  Tinling; 
Madame  Kaji  Yajima,  Miss  Hardynia  K.  Norville;  (below)  Miss  Flora  E. 
Strout,  Mrs.  Frances  Willard  Wang  Liu. 


The    World's    Woman's    Christian    Temperance    Union 

President,  as  she  placed  in  his  welcoming  hands  the  precious  petition 
inscribed  on  Japanese  rice  paper : 

"Mr.  President,  as  a  Christian  woman  of  Japan  I  have  come  to 
America  to  pray  for  the  success  of  the  coming  Conference  for  the  Limi- 
tation of  Armaments.  I  perceive  the  invitation  which  you  sent  to  the 
Japanese  Government  is  based  on  the  Christian  faith,  and  I  wish  to  see 
the  Christian  foundation  for  the  Conference  reinforced  by  prayer.  I  am 
happy  to  recall  the  passage  of  the  Scripture  that  you  selected  at  your 
inauguration.  Truly  God  has  shown  you  'what  is  good.'  The  dele- 
gates from  Japan  do  not  adhere  to  any  of  the  Christian  creeds,  but  they 
love  honor  and  justice.  I  wish  to  pray  particularly  for  the  close  and 
hearty  co-operation  between  Japan's  delegates  and  the  other  delegates 
who  are  Christians  like  yourself.  I  wish  also  to  pray  for  the  delegates 
of  all  countries  represented  at  the  Conference.  Our  languages  may  dif- 
fer, but  I  believe  God  will  hear  us  when  we  pray  with  all  our  hearts 
and  with  all  our  souls.  Moreover,  while  prayers  may  be  offered  any- 
where, I  believe  it  will  mean  infinitely  more  if  those  with  one  purpose 
gather  together  at  one  place  to  pray  for  the  one  thing  they  crave.  I 
have  brought  with  me  a  resolution  signed  by  more  than  ten  thousand 
peace-loving  women  of  Japan,  who  thus  express  their  earnest  desire  that 
the  Conference  may  succeed.  These  signatures  really  representing  all 
the  women  of  Japan  were  obtained  in  the  two  weeks  preceding  my  depar- 
ture, and  I  have  the  honor  to  present  to  you,  Mr.  President,  this  peace 
resolution  embodying  the  aspiration  of  Japanese  womanhood.  May  the 
blessing  of  God  be  with  you  as  you  labor  under  His  guidance  for  the 
peace  of  the  world;  may  the  coming  Conference  prove  a  grorfous  event 
in  history  and  usher  in  the  dawn  of  a  new  era,  wherein  there  shall  be  no 
more  wars  but  peace  and  good-will  shall  prevail  among  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth !" 

President  Harding  combined  the  gracious  urbanity  of  a  Christian 
gentleman  with  the  dignity  of  an  executive  who  represents  one  hundred 
and  twelve  million  people  of  a  great  republic,  as  he  said:  "Madame 
Yajima,  I  am  so  happy  to  have  you  here.  I  feel  a  reverence  for  you. 
I  think  it  is  wonderful  that  during  so  long  a  life  you  have  retained  your 
interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  world  and  that  you  still  radiate  the  spirit 
of  youth.     I  think  you  are  a  dear,  sweet,  interesting  old  lady." 

The  most  distinguished  of  the  many  receptions  tendered  Madame 
Yajima,  her  accomplished  secretary,  Atzuma  Moriya,  and  her  missionary 

83 


Women    Torc  h- be  arers 


friend  and  able  interpreter,  Mrs.  Henry  Topping,  was  the  one  given 
by  Prince  Tokugawa  of  Japan,  the  distinguished  delegate  to  the  Con- 
ference, who  represented  the  Shoguns,  the  most  ancient  royal  family  of 
Nippon.  With  charming  oriental  courtesy  and  dignity,  the  prince  wel- 
comed his  guests,  and  especially  Madame  Yajima,  as  he  said:  "Even  in 
these  days  of  remarkable  things,  I  think  you  will  agree  with  me  that  the 
effort  which  Mrs.  Yajima  has  made  to  prove  once  more  the  common 
kinship  of  our  common  humanity  is  worthy  of  highest  praise.  There  is 
no  world  movement  at  the  present  time  which  ig  more  significant  than 
the  interest  which  the  women  of  all  lands  are  now  taking  in  every  great 
question  which  concerns  the  uplift  of  the  human  race.  In  all  that  af- 
fects the  status  of  woman  and  her  elevation  to  that  plane  which  is  right- 
fully hers  in  the  scale  of  civilization,  you  women  of  America  have  been 
the  leaders  and  the  pioneers.  In  your  struggles  for  right  and  justice, 
in  your  devotion  to  the  cause  of  peace  and  temperance,  in  your  support 
of  education  and  moral  purity,  you  have  been  an  inspiration  to  your 
sisters  of  other  lands.  The  people  of  Japan  are  grateful  for  the  honors 
which  you  have  so  freely  showered  upon  the  head  of  Mrs.  Yajima,  and 
I  want  to  assure  you  that  they  see  in  your  great  kindness  to  her  a  certain 
omen  of  those  closer  and  more  cordial  relations  which  are  destined  to 
grow  up  between  the  peoples  of  America  and  Japan." 

Fearing  nothing,  not  even  an  anticipated  "hold-up"  in  the  western 
Pullman  car,  Madame  Yajima  made  friends  for  peace  and  white  ribbon 
principles,  prophesying  that  within  ten  years  Japan  would  have  prohibi- 
tion. This  poetic  tribute  by  a  mid-west  metropolitan  daily,  found  its 
way  into  many  hearts  and  homes: 

"From  cherry  blossom  land  she  comes, 

A  little  woman  quaint  and  old, 
Risking  her  all  that  she  may  bring 

A  gift  of  spirit  sweet  and  bold: 
'One  hundred  thousand  women  hearts 
Petitioning  for  Peace!' 

"No  gifts  she  asks  nor  favor  craves. 

Nor  mandate  brings  for  war  to  cease. 
From  where  'hearts  mobilized'  await 

She  comes — a  human  dove  of  peace 
'One  hundred  thousand  women  hearts 
Petitioning  for  Peace!' 


84 


The    World's    Woman's    Christian    Temperance    Union 

"In  this  vast  land  can  we  do  less 

Than  'mobilize  our  hearts,'  as  they, 
The  little  women  of  Japan? 

And  kneel  with  them  and  bravely  pray  ? 
An  Army  of  the  Spirit,  thus 

Petitioning  for  Peace!" 
Madame  Yajima  brought  to  Rest  Cottage,  in  Evanston,  Illinois,  now 
World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  Headquarters,  as  a  gift  to  Anna  Gordon  a 
sake  bowl  presented  to  her  by  the  Mikado.  With  the  rare  gift  is  shown 
a  picture  of  a  large  empty  sake  bowl,  in  the  temple  of  Amanda  Ike  in 
Osaka.  Over  it  is  a  firmly  shut  lock;  and  the  key  is  thrown  away. 
It  is  a  temperance  pledge — the  emaj  or  votive  offering  of  a  poor  drunk- 
ard, who  has  tried  to  break  away  from  his  bad  habit  and  now,  in  desper- 
ation, is  seeking  the  help  of  the  gods.  Others  addicted  to  drink  have 
joined  with  him  in  his  prayer.  Each  one  of  these  men  has  chewed 
a  "paper  prayer"  and  thrown  it  at  the  locked  sake  bowl,  a  customary 
religious  act.  A  typical  ema  is  one  that  shows  the  kneeling  worshiper 
gratefully  offering  two  jugs  of  sacred  wine — because  of  "desire  fulfilled." 
The  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  Japan  is  seeking  to  increase  the  emas 
depicting  locked  sake  bowls — instead  of  the  picture-  of  jugs  con- 
taining sacred  wine. 

The  world  is  going  dry!  Yes,  the  religious  world,  the  educational 
world,  the  business  world,  the  social  world,  "are  awakening  out  of 
slumber  deep  and  long,  and  the  race  is  beginning  to  understand  that 
right  can  conquer  wrong,"  The  fetters  forged  by  alcoholic  drink  and 
its  attendant  evils,  will  surely  break.  An  international  soul,  as  well 
as  an  international  mind,  has  decreed  the  utter  destruction  of  the 
legalized  liquor  traffic.  The  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  rejoices  that  this 
victory,  so  sure  to  come,  shall  be  acclaimed  one  of  the  greatest  triumphs 
of  Christianity. 

Bartholdl's  statue  of  liberty  has  a  woman's  form  and  depicts  his 
mother's  face.     It  symbolizes  "Liberty  According  to  Law." 

"Not  like  the  brazen  giant  of  Greek  fame 
With  brawny  limbs  astride  from  land  to  land. 
Here,  at  our  sea-washed  sunset  gates  shall  stand 
A    mighty    woman,    with    a    torch    whose    flame    is    the 
imprisoned  lightning 
And  her  name,  'Mother  of  Exiles.'  " 

85 


CHAPTER  V 

Legislative  Achievements 

Believing,  as  Browning  says,  that  "All's  love,  but  all's  law,"  white 
ribboners,  though  voteless,  early  resolved  to  make  love  legislatively 
articulate. 

Protection  of  the  home  was  the  ultimate  objective.  The  Federal 
government,  in  its  partnership  with  the  liquor  traffic,  did  not  exemplify 
love.  Women,  children  and  homes  were  exploited,  while  legal  protec- 
tion was  extended  to  breweries,  liquor  men,  distilleries  and  saloons. 
The  liquor  traffic,  like  a  deadly  cancer,  was  eating  out  the  life  of  the 
people.  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  petitions  to  the  national  parties,  ask- 
ing them  to  embody  in  their  platform  resolutions  against  the  manu- 
facture and  sale  of  alcoholic  liquors,  were  rejected.  The  legalized 
liquor  traffic,  a  great  financial  political  monopoly,  held  the  balance  ot 
power.  ^  ^.  i^^^^p"; 

In  1875,  a  huge  petition  collected  by  the  local  and  state  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  asking  for  the  prohibition  of  the  liquor 
traffic,  was  sent  to  Congress.  It  was  presented  by  United  States  Sena- 
tor, Henry  W.  Blair  of  New  Hampshire,  a  fearless,  heaven-sent  states- 
man. A  few  years  before  his  death,  in  an  address  to  white  ribboners, 
he  recalled  with  pride  this  notable  occasion,  and  said:  "That  first 
petition  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  as  big  as  a  barrel.  It  was 
mounted  on  a  large  framework,  rolled  down  the  aisle  and  left  in 
front  of  the  Speaker." 

In  1876,  Senator  Blair  introduced  the  first  bill  for  a  prohibition 
amendment  to  the  United  States  Constitution.  Frances  Willard  was 
Senator  Blair's  inspiration,  and  from  that  early  period  the  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.  followed  this  Constitutional  Prohibition  gleam. 

The  creation  of  a  national  Legislative  department  made  activities 
in  this  line  more  definite,  systematic  and  effective.  "Just  where  they 
were"  in  the  home,  school,  professional  and  business  life,  thousands  of 
women  hopefully  and  untiringly  worked  for  the  outlawing  of  the  liquor 
traffic.  From  1874  to  1895  the  able  national  leaders  of  the  "Legal" 
department  were  Mrs.  Annie  Wittenmyer,  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Wood- 
bridge,  Mrs.  J.  Ellen  Foster,  Mrs.  Ada  M.  Bittenbender,  Mrs. 
Catherine  Waugh  McCulloch,  Mrs.  Frances  Belford,  and  Mrs.  Mary 
Towne  Burt. 

86 


(Below)  Part  of  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Legislative  Headquarters, 
Washington,  D.  C;  Mrs.  Lenna  Lowe  Yost  placing  a  W.  C.  T.  U. 
Allegiance   Enrollment  Card  in  one  of  the  filling  cases. 

(Above)  Mrs.  Margaret  Dye  Ellis. 


Legislative    Achievements 


In  1895,  with  the  appointment  of  Mrs.  Margaret  Dye  Ellis  of 
New  Jersey  as  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  superintendent,  National  W.  C. 
T.  U.  headquarters  were  opened  at  Washington,  D.  C.  and  for 
twenty- four  years,  until  1919,  Mrs.  Ellis  was  the  national  Legislative 
superintendent  and  during  the  sessions  of  Congress,  the  resident  Legis- 
lative representative.  Throughout  the  years,  she  contributed  to  The 
Union  Signal  an  edifying,  weekly  Washington  Letter. 

The  story  of  this  quarter  century,  covering  the  legislative  activi- 
ties of  Mrs.  Ellis,  is  coincident  with  the  lives  of  Frances  Willard, 
Lillian  Stevens,  Anna  Gordon,  Mary  Lathrap,  Clara  Hoffman,  Louise 
Rounds,  Katharine  Lent  Stevenson,  Mary  T.  Burt,  and  many  other 
well-known  leaders.  It  is  a  living  picture  of  the  American  woman's 
indomitable,  ballotless  struggle  for  home  protection. 

Students  of  American  history,  as  well  as  white  ribboners,  will  be 
interested  in  some  of  the  incidents  of  that  period  when  temperance  work 
was  most  unpopular  and  woman's  entrance  into  the  arena  of  politics 
was  considered  not  only  a  regrettable  delusion,  but  an  unwarranted 
intrusion.  With  a  deep  realization  and  heartfelt  appreciation  of  the 
co-operation  she  received  from  the  general  officers  of  the  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.  and  the  rank  and  file,  Mrs.  Ellis  has  told  reminiscently 
some  of  her  adventures  which  today  read  like  a  romance.  They  are 
illustrative  of  the  nation-wide  constructive  legislative  activities  accomp- 
lished during  this  quarter  century. 

It  was  in  1873  in  Alameda,  California,  a  little  town  across  the  bay 
from  San  Francisco,  that  the  Crusade  fire  reached  Mrs.  Ellis.  Her 
home  cares  kept  her  busy,  her  husband  and  three  little  girls  claiming 
all  her  attention.  Aroused  by  the  Crusade  news  from  Ohio,  the  Ala- 
meda women  of  all  denominations  came  together  for  prayer.  What 
should  they  do?  In  a  few  days,  they  courageously  determined  to  visit 
the  saloons  and  talk  with  the  saloon-keepers.  In  her  inimitable  way, 
Mrs.  Ellis  tells  the  dramatic  story: 

"This  was  a  difficult  proposition;  none  of  us  felt  equal  to  visiting 
saloons.  I  was  only  thirty-two  and  inexperienced.  But  we  were  made 
to  realize  that  we  were  holding  back  that  for  which  we  had  prayed. 
The  town  was  districted  and  certain  women  were  assigned  the  task 
of  carrying  an  importunate  message  to  the  saloon-keepers.  Mrs.  Hill, 
who  later  became  very  prominent    in    temperance    work    in    Califor- 


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Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


nia,  and  I,  were  given  the  main  street.     Immediately  she  said,  'To- 
morrow morning,  I'll  be  here  and  we  shall  go  together.' 

"I  slept  very  little  that  night.  When  at  ten  o'clock,  Mrs.  Hill 
failed  to  arrive,  I  was  glad,  for  I  confess  to  having  been  a  coward. 
About  a  quarter  past  ten,  she  came  full  of  apologies  for  having  kept 
me  waiting.  As  we  walked  down  the  street  that  beautiful,  sunshiny 
morning,  I  felt  as  though  enveloped  in  a  fog.  Mrs.  Hill  talked  all 
the  way,  but  I  never  knew  what  she  said.  When  we  came  to  the  first 
saloon,  there  were  three  steps  leading  up  to  the  swing-door.  Mrs. 
Hill  went  right  ahead,  pushed  open  the  door,  and  passed  in.  She  had 
not  noticed  that  I  was  not  directly  behind  her;  but  as  I  stood  look- 
ing at  those  steps,  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  could  die  rather  than  go 
through  that  door.  Finally,  I  had  courage  to  enter.  The  proprietor, 
a  German,  was  alone  and  came  forward  to  greet  us,  'Good  morning, 
ladies!'  he  said;  'How  can  I  serve  you?'  'Good  morning,  sir!'  she 
replied ;  'Mrs.  Ellis  has  something  to  say  to  5'ou.'  And  I  didn't  have 
a  thing  to  say — I  scarcely  knew  my  own  name.  He  saw  my  confu- 
sion and  his  attitude  changed  in  a  minute.  In  his  sarcastic  way 
he  said,  'Oh,  yes!  I  suppose  you  are  here  on  the  same  errand  those 
women  over  in  the  states  are  at' — for  Californians  spoke  of  every- 
thing east  of  the  Rockies  as  'over  in  the  states.' 

''Instantly  my  fear  left  me,  for  all  a  woman  needs  to  help  her 
carry  a  question  of  principle  is  opposition.  I  looked  the  saloon- 
keeper right  in  the  eye  as  I  said;  'Yes,  sir,  that  is  exactly  why  we 
are  here — to  urge  upon  you  the  closing  of  your  saloon.'  He  said, 
'Now,  ladies,  look  at  this  from  my  standpoint.  I  am  a  German;  I 
came  to  America  to  make  money.  I  found  that  by  the  law  of  the  state 
I  could  open  what  I  call  a  beer-garden — what  you  call  a  saloon.  But 
in  order  to  do  this,  my  application  for  a  license  had  to  have  the  names 
of  twelve  respectable  men.'  Then,  looking  at  us  most  earnestly, 
he  said,  'Do  you  ladies  belong  to  that  church  up  the  street  that  has 
a  cupola?  I  got  three  good  names  from  that  church;  the  one  that  has 
a  steeple  and  bell — I  had  two  names  from  there.  Out  of  the  dif- 
ferent churches,  I  got  nine  names.  Now,  ladies,  I  paid  my  money;  I 
got  my  names:  I  have  kept  the  law,  and  I  have  received  my  seal  ot 
the  state.'  Hereupon,  he  pointed  to  his  license,  framed  and  hanging 
behind  the  bar.  'If  j^our  husbands  want  a  different  state  of  things, 
let   them  make  laws   that  we  foreignefrs  must  abide   by  and   not   let 


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Legislative    Achievements 


their  wives  come  talking  to  us.  You  better  stay  home  and  take  care 
of  5^our  children  and  not  come  to  law-abiding  saloons  and  ask  them 
to  close  up.    Let  your  husbands  do  the  talking  at  the  polls.' 

"I  saw  it  from  his  point  of  view  and,  putting  my  hand  across  the 
bar,  I  said,  'Shake  hands!  I  never  was  in  a  saloon  until  this  morn- 
ing and  I  have  never  talked  with  a  saloon-keeper.'  That  night  I  did 
some  talking  with  my  husband  and  I  asked  him  why  he  had  not  ex- 
plained to  me  about  the  license  system.  With  great  surprise  he  said, 
'Why,  Mother,  I  supposed  you  knew  all  about  it!'  'How  should  I 
know!  You  were  brought  up  in  the  prohibition  state  of  Maine,  but  I 
was  brought  up  in  New  York  City  where  Tammany  rules.'  During 
the  year  and  a  half  that  I  remained  in  Alameda,  I  had  a  young 
people's  class  every  Thursday  and  that  saloon-keeper's  little  daughter 
was  a  constant  attendant.  I  won  a  friend  in  that  man,  but  the 
saloon  went  on." 

Frances  Willard  often  saw  possibilities  in  women  of  which  they 
were  quite  unconscious.  No  other  leader  in  the  nineteenth  century 
awakened  and  developed  so  many  women.  When  Mrs.  Ellis  said,  in 
reply  to  Miss  Willard's  presidential  request  that  she  undertake  the 
legislative  work  in  Washington,  "I  am  unequal  to  the  task,"  Frances 
Willard  exclaimed,  "Margaret,  I  will  not  listen  to  any  refusal.  You  y 
take  that  place  and  mother  the  work,  doing  your  best."  Mrs.  Ellis 
related  this  incident  reminiscently  and  said,  "I  did  it  for  twenty-four 
years.  When  I  see  Frances  again,  as  I  probably  shall  soon,  I  shall 
say,  'Frances,  I  wrought  my  best.  When  I  was  perplexed,  but  not  dis- 
mayed, I  have  stood  in  front  of  your  beautiful  statute  under  the  dome 
of  the  National  Capitol  and  talked  to  you,  and  I  seemed  to  hear  you 
say,  "Go  right  on,  Margaret,  you  are  doing  well." '  " 

Upon  Mrs.  Ellis'  arrival  in  Washington,  D.  C,  in  1895,  having 
been  elected  national  superintendent  of  Legislation  and  appoiated  na- 
tional Legislative  representative,  she  was  accompanied  to  the  Capitol 
by  an  uncle  from  California.  As  she  approached  the  awe-inspiring 
building,  her  uncle  said  reassuringly,  *'Now,  Maggie,  don't  feel  that 
you  are  in  the  way  when  you  enter.  Your  father,  your  grandfather 
and  your  great  grandfather  were  American  citizens,  and  your  husband 
is  a  patriotic  voter.  These  uniformed  men  and  the  elected  Senators  and 
Representatives  are  here  to  serve  the  people,  and  women  as  well  as 

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Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


men  are  the  people,  so  don't  be  afraid  to  ask  for  what  you  want  and 
stick  to  it  until  you  get  it." 

To  her  astonishment,  Mrs.  Ellis  observed  that  at  almost  every 
table  in  the  Capitol  restaurants  beer  and  wine  were  being  served. 
This  was  contrary  to  law,  for  although  the  government  at  that  time 
permitted  the  issuing  of  licenses  for  the  sale  of  liquor  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  no  permit  could  be  granted  for  the  sale  of  liquor  in  the 
government  buildings.  Soon  after,  a  bill  was  introduced  in  the  House 
prohibiting  the  sale  of  liquor  in  any  Capitol  building.  As  Mrs.  Ellis 
interviewed  the  Senators  and  Representatives,  she  found  the  subject 
most  unpopular.  W.  C.  T.  U.  women  in  sections  from  which  the  men 
came  responded  to  Mrs.  Ellis's  appeal  and  Senators  and  Representa- 
tives soon  heard  from  their  constituents  at  home.  For  some  years, 
these  members  of  Congress  were  bombarded  by  letters  and  telegrams. 
Finally,  in  1903,  the  bill  prohibiting  the  sale  of  liquor  in  the  two 
Capitol  restaurants  was  placed  as  a  rider  to  the  immigration  bill  that 
had  to  pass  and  great  was  the  joy  of  the  temperance  forces  when  the 
temperance  rider  passed  the  House  and  later,  the  Senate.  It  met  some 
opposition  in  the  Senate,  which  was  over-ruled  by  the  speech  of  Sena- 
tor Berry  of  Arkansas,  an  ex-confederate  general  v/ho  during  the  civil 
war  had  lost  a  leg  from  a  Yankee  bullet.  He  earnestly  addressed  the 
president  of  the  Senate,  assuring  him  that  for  years  he  had  been  re- 
ceiving letters  and  petitions  from  his  God-fearing  constituency  in  favor 
of  this  bill,  and  in  closing  his  speech,  he  exclaimed,  "Sir,  my  vote  will 
be  for  the  cleansing  of  our  nation's  Capitol  from  the  sale  of  alcoholic 
drinks."  Instantly,  a  half  dozen  Senators  were  on  their  feet  in  support 
of  the  measure,  and  the  victory  came.  At  once,  an  order  directing  that 
all  alcoholic  liquors  be  removed  from  the  Capitol  was  issued  to  the 
lessees  of  the  two  restaurants.  The  order  was  obeyed.  It  was  like 
an  up-to-date  moving  picture  show  to  see  men  carry  out  scores  of  wine 
cases  and  kegs  of  beer  and  load  them  on  trucks.  As  the  liquor  dis- 
appeared down  the  street,  Mrs.  Ellis,  looking  up  at  the  dear  old  flag 
surmounting  the  dome,  said,  "Praise  Grod!  May  liquor  never  come 
back  to  our  nation's  Capitol!"  In  a  brief  time  every  one  saw  the  bene- 
ficial effects  of  this  action.  It  had  not  been  an  unusual  thing,  during 
hearings,  for  members  of  committees  to  visit  the  drinking  places  down- 
stairs. Occasionally,  during  the  regular  sessions,  a  member  of  Con- 
gress was  seen  with  his  head  buried  in  his  arms,  taking  an  alcoholic 


90 


Legislative    Achievements 


nap.  Later,  Speaker  Joe  Cannon  was  urged  to  use  his  influence  for  the 
repeal  of  the  law.  DrawHngly,  in  characteristic  manner,  he  replied, 
"The-Iaw-works-verj^-well !    We  think  we  will  let  it  s-t-a-n-d!" 

The  rider  to  the  immigration  bill  included  prohibition  of  liquor 
at  ports  of  entry  and  immigrant  stations.  It  had  been  difficult  for 
a  mother  to  get  a  drink  of  milk  for  her  child  or  a  cup  of  coffee  for  her- 
self while  beer  was  thrust  upon  them;  but  when  the  law  was  enforced, 
pails  of  milk  and  coffee  and  tea  in  large  quantities  were  served  to  all 
the  men  and  women  arriving  from  other  lands. 

In  the  early  days,  petitions  from  voting  constituents  v/ere  exten- 
sively used,  but  later  it  was  found  that  letters  or  telegrams  had  more 
weight;  still,  as  educators,  petitions  were  unsurpassed.  As  soon  as  a 
person  had  signed  a  petition,  the  sentimicnt  became  reflexive.  He  became 
more  interested  in  the  passage  of  a  bill.  Members  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 
were  indefatigable  in  securing  names  and  sending  them  to  W.  C  .T.  U. 
headquarters  in  Washington,  where  they  were  classified  and  then  sent 
to  Senators  and  Representatives.  Thousands  upon  thousands  of  names 
for  various  measures  were  received.  Every  morning  Mr.  Ellis  carried 
to  the  Capitol  post-office,  petitions  for  the  Senate  and  House,  each  one 
having  been  sealed  and  stamped.  One  day,  he  was  accosted  by  a  young 
clerk  in  the  House  post-office,  who  questioned  him  rather  officiously  in 
regard  to  the  petitions,  saying,  "They  are  no  good.  Men  will  put  them 
right  in  the  waste  basket."  "I  should  be  most  glad  to  get  some  of 
them,"  replied  Mr.  Ellis,  "and  if  you  find  one  for  me,  I  will  pay  you 
a  dollar."  Even  though  the  request  was  repeated  day  after  day,  and 
the  promised  reward  reached  the  sum  of  $5.00,  no  petition  was  ever  re- 
turned and  the  young  clerk  finally  obsequiously  acknowledged  that  it 
was  only  a  bluff.  It  was  heartbreaking  to  read  many  pathetic  letters 
accompanying  the  petitions,  sometim.es  coming  from  women  over  eighty 
years  of  age,  who  had  walked  miles  on  the  prairies  in  mud  or  snow  to 
get  the  names  of  men  because  they  had  a  vote. 

The  first  bill  in  the  passing  of  which  the  national  representative 
had  a  part,  was  on  raising  the  "age  of  consent"  for  the  District  from 
ten  to  sixteen  years.  There  were  hearings  before  the  House  Judiciary 
Committee,  and  Mrs.  Ellis,  with  fear  and  trembling,  went  to  the 
Capitol  to  speak  for  the  voiceless  girls.  Sixteen  members  of  the  W.  C. 
T.  U.  met  in  the  ladies'  parlor.  They  closed  the  door  and  held  a 
brief  prayer-meeting — the  first  of  its  kind  in   that  historic  building," 


91 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


then  they  crossed  the  corridor  to  the  committee  room  where  eighteen 
men  were  smoking,  chatting,  and  writing.  The  chairman  admonished 
the  women  not  to  overstep  the  time,  and  allowed  them  fifteen  minutes. 
Mrs.  Ellis  and  Mrs.  Margaret  B.  Piatt,  President  of  the  District  of 
Columbia  W.  C.  T.  U.,  were  the  speakers.  Their  heartfelt  appeals 
were  made  in  twelve  minutes.  Later,  the  bill  became  a  law,  changing 
the  age  of  consent  from  ten  to  sixteen. 

The  salutary  influence  of  the   National  W.   C.  T.   U.   in   foreign 
diplomatic  affairs  is  illustrated  by  this  incident: 

During  the  administration  of  President  McKinley,  in  1897,  a  letter 
from  Mrs.  Isabel  Strong,  the  stepdaughter  of  Robert  Louis  Stevenson 
— a  letter  written  at  Samoa,  South  Sea  Islands — was  received  by  the 
National  W.  C  ,T.  U.  representative  in  Washington,  D.  C.  Mrs. 
Isabel  Strong  stated  that  the  natives,  a  simple  and  kindly  class,  were 
the  victims  of  the  illegal  sale  of  liquor.  It  appeared  that  the  Ameri- 
can consul  located  at  Samoa  was  responsible  for  this  infringment  of 
law.  As  a  result  of  the  use  of  intoxicants,  the  people,  formerly  so 
friendly,  became  savage.  Murders  were  frequent  and  whole  families 
became  addicted  to  drink.  Mrs.  Ellis  was  implored  to  do  something 
to  prevent  the  wholesale  destruction  of  the  people.  She  arranged  to 
have  Mrs.  Strong's  letter  read  before  the  United  States  Senate 
Foreign  Relations  Committee  in  Congress,  and  it  was  also  brought 
to  the  attention  of  the  President.  The  liquor  selling  consul  was  re- 
called, and  a  rule  was  established  prohibiting  any  person  represent- 
ing the  United  States  Government  from  selling  liquor  in  a  foreign 
country.  ./ 

The  description  of  one  day's  activities  at  the  Washington  W.  C. 
T.  U.  headquarters  is  typical  of  many.  After  speaking  at  a  hearing,  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.  Legislative  representative  hurried,  by  telephone  request,  to 
Saint  Elizabeths,  the  Federal  Insane  Asylum,  and  by  her  persuasion 
liberated  the  daughter  of  a  W.  C.  T.  U.  mother  who  had  been  illegally 
incarcerated.  After  luncheon,  she  dictated  letters,  attended  an  ex- 
ecutive meeting  of  the  District  of  Columbia  W.  C.  T.  U.,  and  an  eve- 
ning reception  at  the  White  House  gave  her  splendid  opportunity  to 
make  friends  for  the  cause.  It  was  no  unusual  thing,  she  recalls,  to 
spend  from  one  to  three  hours  in  an  ante-room  for  an  interview  with  the 
President,  the  chief  of  a  department,  or  a  Senator.  "Many  a  spiritual 
blessing  have  I  received,"  said  Mrs.  Ellis,  "as  I  realized  that  it  was 


92 


Legislative    Achievements 


not  necessary  to  wait  even  one  moment  to  have  a  personal  audience 
w^ith  the  King  of  Kings  and  the  Lord  of  Lords." 

Early  in  her  W.  C.  T.  U.  service  at  Washington,  an  unexpected 
social  afifair  gave  the  Legislative  representative  an  introduction  to  the 
American  Anti-Saloon  League.  A  committee  of  the  leaders  was  in  con- 
ference at  the  residence  of  Hon.  Hiram  Price,  president  of  the  Anti- 
Saloon  League  of  the  District.  The  topic  for  discussion  was  the  de- 
sirability of  opening  Legislative  headquarters  in  Washington.  Already, 
the  W.  C.  T.  U.  had  made  a  place  for  itself  along  Congressional  lines, 
and  with  a  desire  to  arrange  for  co-operative  activities,  Mrs.  Ellis  called 
at  the  residence  of  Mr.  Price.  She  was  most  cordially  greeted  and  Mr. 
Price,  a  widower,  exclaimed:  "You  have  come  at  the  psychological 
moment.  Lunch  is  about  to  be  served,  and  I  would  be  most  grateful 
if  you  would  kindly  preside  at  the  head  of  my  table." 

Mrs.  Ellis  gladly  accepted  the  invitation,  as  it  gave  her  an  oppor- 
tunity to  meet  personally  the  members  of  the  committee.  In  a  formal 
conference  that  followed,  she  stated  to  the  assembled  gentlemen  that 
the  W.  C.  T.  U.  already  was  an  acknowledged  factor  in  Congressional 
circles,  and  in  the  political  life  of  Washington,  and  she  felt  sure 
that  the  t^vo  organizations  would  work  together  most  harmoniously. 

It  was  in  1898  that  a  gentleman  who  had  just  returned  from  Ma- 
nila, handed  Mrs.  Ellis  a  little  book,  saying,  "Here  is  some  good  work 
for  the  W.  C.  T.  U."  The  publication  contained  the  picture  of  a  six- 
teen-year-old Filipino  girl.  Underneath  was  her  autograph, 
"Marie — ."  The  pages  contained  certifications  by  surgeons  of  the 
American  army,  who  declared  that  on  a  certain  day  Marie —  was  found 
to  be  free  from  venereal  disease.  Marie  was  one  of  many  girls  who  paid 
fifty  cents  for  a  fortnightly  examination,  and  if  they  were  found  to  be 
diseased,  they  paid  two  dollars  and  were  taken  to  the  hospital  to  be 
"cured."  Then  they  were  allowed  to  pursue  their  so-called  profess- 
ion. Mrs.  Ellis  took  the  book  to  Senator  Gallinger  of  New  Hampshire 
and  said  to  him,  "You  are  a  phj'sician  and  a  father,  and  I  am  a  mother, 
and  these  girls  should  be  protected."  He  looked  the  book  over  and 
said,  "I  should  like  to  borrow  this  for  a  few  days,  as  there  are  one 
hundred  men  or  more  under  this  Capitol  dome  who  would  take  an  oath 
that  no  such  condition  exists  in  connection  with  our  army  in  the  Philip- 
pines.   I  should  like  to  present  this  documentary  evidence." 

93 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


At  the  next  interview,  it  was  decided  that  the  women  were  the  best 
ones  to  undertake  the  task  of  enlightening  the  public.  In  consultation 
with  Mrs,  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens,  president  of  the  National  W.  C. 
T.  U.,  who  arrived  at  this  time  in  Washington,  the  plan  for  an  in- 
forming campaign  was  carried  out.  A  few  pages  of  the  certificates 
signed  by  army  surgeons  were  printed,  the  leaflet  containing  also  the 
girl's  picture.  Thousands  of  these  circulars  were  sent  to  white  ribbon 
women,  cabinet  officers,  and  their  wives,  and  to  influential  friends, 
with  a  requesj:  that  letters  and  telegrams  be  sent  to  President  Roosevelt 
protesting  against  such  an  un-American  condition.  The  circular  stated 
that  American  women  are  splendidly  protected  by  their  country's  flag, 
and  the  women  of  the  United  States  demand  that  women  in  our  new 
possessions,  Hawaii  and  the  Philippines,  should  have  equal  safeguard- 
ing. One  morning,  weeks  after,  Mrs.  Ellis  was  called  to  the  Insular 
Division  and  the  chief  of  the  division  said,  "Madam,  can  you  tell  who 
has  been  sending  out  the  circular  letters  about  the  Filipino  girls  and 
our  army?"  "Yes,"  Mrs.  Ellis  replied,  "representing  the  W.  C.  T.  U., 
I  have  done  it."  "You!"  was  his  response.  "Well,  let  me  tell  you, 
madame,  that  for  three  weeks  I  have  had  to  have  an  extra  corps  of 
secretaries  and  I  have  writer's  cramp  signing  my  name.  Perhaps  you 
can  tell  me  also  how  many  women  there  are  in  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  ?" 
"About  half  a  million,"  she  replied.  "I  thought  you  were  a  million," 
answered  the  chief.  "These  letters,  if  piled  up,  would  reach  above  my 
head,  and  I  am  six-feet-two.  Mrs.  Ellis,  can't  you  call  off  your 
women?"  "It  isn't  an  easy  matter  to  stop  women  who  are  as  deeply  in- 
terested as  ours  are,"  answered  his  visitor.  "How  much  longer  will 
they  need  to  keep  up  this  agitation?"  "Madame,"  he  replied,  "you  will  be 
glad  to  know  that  the  order  for  the  suppression  of  registered  prostitution 
was  issued  yesterday  by  President  Roosevelt."  The  order  contained 
these  great  words,  "The  only  real,  efficient  way  to  control  diseases  due 
to  immorality  is  to  diminish  the  vice  which  is  the  cause  of  these  dis- 
eases." In  recounting  this  victory,  Mrs.  Ellis  said,  "I  have  been  sing- 
ing the  doxology  ever  since.  We  sent  out  fourteen  thousand  circulars, 
and  if  every  one  brought  a  letter,  it  did  the  business.  Now,  I  am 
working  to  secure  a  new  clause  in  the  Chinese  exclusion  bill  that  will 
keep  girls  from  coming  to  this  country  to  personate  Chinese  village 
life  and  then  be  sold  here  as  prostitutes.  Ninety-two  who  came  for  the 
Omaha  Exposition  were  sold  and  no  one  could  find   them.      I  have 


94 


Legislative    Achievements 


been  to  see  the  Chinese  Minister,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  Shaw, 
and  several  others.  Secretary  Shaw  said  with  great  earnestness,  'Tell 
your  women  the  Chinese  girls  shall  be  protected.'  " 

During  the  extended  agitation  connected  with  the  removal  of  the 
canteen  from  the  army,  Mrs.  Ellis  was  approached  by  a  seemingly 
intelligent  woman  who  inquired,  "Why  do  you  work  so  hard  to  take 
away  from  the  soldier  the  canteen  which  holds  his  drinking  water?" 
Mrs.  Ellis,  amazed  at  her  point  of  view,  exclaimed,  "Do  you  not  know 
that  the  canteen  we  are  fighting  is  a  liquor  saloon  in  the  Army  Post 
Exchange?"  The  canteen,  or  post  exchange,  started  in  the  barracks 
in  Vancouver,  Washington  territory,  as  a  saloonless  recreation  room 
and  store  for  the  men  of  the  regiment.  A  few  years  later,  beer  and 
other  alcoholic  drinks  were  sold.  The  result  was  most  disastrous, 
and  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  in  union  with  other  temperance  organizations, 
attacked  the  army  saloon  through  a  bill  introduced  into  both  Houses 
of  Congress.  This  bill  was  bitterly  assailed  by  army  people  and  mem- 
bers of  the  German  and  American  Alliance.  Never  was  there  a  more 
persistent  and  powerful  battle  waged  against  the  liquor  traffic  so  firm- 
ly intrenched  in  the  army  and  navy.  While  the  temperance  forces  had 
a  host  of  friends  in  both,  still  many  officers  of  the  highest  ranks  were 
opposed  to  any  change.  During  one  session,  over  forty  thousand 
petitions  in  favor  of  this  measure  passed  through  the  Washington  W. 
C.  T.  U.  headquarters.  This  number  increased  to  hundreds  of  thous- 
ands before  the  bill  became  a  law.  For  years  the  struggle  continued. 
Avalanches  of  letters  and  telegrams  kept  pouring  in  on  Congress  until 
in  1901  the  allied  temperance  forces  won  the  victory.  The  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.  at  once  began  Vv^orking  for  recreation  buildings  at  army 
posts,  and  a  half  million  dollars  was  appropriated  by  the  Federal  gov- 
ernment for  the  building  and  maintenance  of  post  exchanges.  Later, 
an  additional  appropriation  of  $3,500,000.00  was  made  by  Congress 
for  the  erection  and  equipment  of  gymnasiums,  bowling  alleys,  read- 
ing and  writing  rooms. 

The  national  Legislative  superintendent,  in  visiting  the  city  of 
Portland,  Maine,  rejoiced  that  the  man  with  an  appetite  for  alco- 
holics was  not  met  at  every  corner  by  a  saloon  and  pictures  of  men 
holding  out  glasses  of  beer.  Rev.  Smith  Baker  of  Portland,  at  the 
time  of  an  election  in  Maine,  said  to  a  great  audience,  "I  have  lived 
in  licensed   Massachusetts  and  in  prohibition   Maine,  and   I  say  that 


95 


Women    Torch-bearers 


the  law  of  Maine  does  prohibit.  Portland  is  one  of  the  finest  cities 
in  the  country.  Scores  of  children  who  walk  up  and  down  these  streets 
never  see  anything  of  a  saloon  or  a  drunkard.  That  does  not  mean 
that  there  are  no  people  who  drink,  but  it  does  mean  that  the  children 
know  that  the  law  prohibits  the  selling  of  liquor.  I  would  rather 
have  my  right  hand  cut  off  than  have  liquor  come  to  Maine  and  to 
the  city  of  Portland." 

The  superiority  of  the  prohibition  law  of  Maine  to  the  license 
law  of  Massachusetts  was  impressed  also  upon  the  writer,  when  she 
was  present  at  a  liquor  spilling  in  the  basement  of  the  city  hall  of 
Portland.  A  small  but  notable  group  gathered  to  witness  this  legal- 
ized destruction  of  alcoholic  liquor.  Through  an  aperture  in  the 
cement  floor,  jug  after  jug  of  whisky  and  beer  and  bottles  of  wine 
were  broken  and  their  contents  gurgled  into  the  Atlantic  ocean,  Neal 
Dow,  Frances  Willard,  Mrs.  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens,  Anna  Gordon, 
and  others  participated  in  this  unusual  ceremony.  To  one  accustomed 
to  seeing  in  Boston  saloons  on  every  corner  and  wagons  of  beer  and 
other  liquors  rattling  over  the  historic  streets  of  the  "hub",  it  was 
amazing  to  note  how  small  was  the  amount  of  liquor  that  in  three 
months  time  had  been  confiscated. 

This  touching  incident  tells  how  one  little  Kansas  woman  saved 
the  day  for  state  constitutional  prohibition.  For  fifteen  years,  Kansas 
had  been  blessed  with  a  process  of  education  by  means  of  a  local  option 
law.  In  cities  of  the  second  class,  women  had  an  equal  voice  with 
men  in  voting  on  the  liquor  question.  They  were  in  a  campaign  to 
secure  a  prohibitory  constitutional  amendment.  The  bill  for  sub- 
mission had  passed  the  senate,  the  day  came  when  it  was  up  in  the 
house.  Temperance  people  and  liquor  men  were  all  out.  There  had 
been  a  long  stormy  debate.  It  was  midnight,  and  the  roll  was  to  be 
called.  Men  who  were  keeping  tally  saw  that  there  was  danger  of 
losing  the  temperance  victory — by  just  one  vote.  At  that  critical  mo- 
ment, a  gentle  and  modest  woman,  with  all  eyes  following  her,  left 
the  throng  and  went  down  the  aisle  of  the  house  where  woman  never 
trod  before — straight  to  her  husband,  a  party  leader,  and  whispered 
to  him,  "My  darling,  for  my  sake,  for  the  sake  of  our  sweet  home, 
for  Kansas'  sake,  and  God's,  I  beseech  you,  change  your  vote."  Al- 
most instantly,  the  man  arose  and  in  a  deep  voice  said,  "Mr.  Speaker, 

96 


Legislative    Achievements 


before  the  clerk  reads  the  result,  I  wish  to  change  my  vote  from  'No' 
to  'Aye'." 

Still  another  little  story  recounts  the  home  side  of  the  many  cam- 
paigns: A  Kentuckian  who  had  overcome  the  drink  habit,  was  the 
husband  of  an  earnest  white  ribboner.  On  the  first  election  day  after 
his  reformation,  his  wife  said  to  him,  "Dear  John,  you  know  I  never 
said  a  word  about  your  politics  before,  but  if  I've  been  a  comfort  to 
you,  do  please  go  today  and  vote  against  the  saloon  for  my  sake  and 
that  of  ©ur  little  ones."  John  didn't  answer.  At  the  polls  he  met  some 
of  his  old  cronies  and  they  handed  him  a  ballot  for  "license."  John 
didn't  answer  them,  but  secured  a  clean  ballot.  He  took  the  license 
ballot  and  tore  it  to  bits.  Then,  holding  the  temperance  ballot  aloft, 
he  said,  "Boys,  I've  always  joined  with  you  before,  but  by  the  grace 
of  God,  here  goes  a  vote  for  Sally  and  the  children  T 

Scientific  facts  taught  in  the  public  schools,  and  on  Temperance 
Sunday  in  the  Sunday  Schools  made  known  to  the  people  that  alcoholic 
drink  endangered  the  public  health  and  the  public  morals.  The  home 
forces  rejoiced  when  the  Supreme  Court  rendered  the  following  deci- 
sion: "No  legislature  can  bargain  away  the  public  health  or  the  public 
morals;  the  people  themselves  cannot  do  it,  much  less  their  servants. 
Government  is  organized  with  a  view  to  their  preservation  and  cannot 
divest  itself  of  the  power  to  provide  for  them." 

When  the  merging  of  Indian  territory  with  Oklahoma  was  pro- 
posed, there  was  consternation  on  the  part  of  the  temperance  people 
who  feared  if  the  two  were  joined,  liquor  would  be  introduced  in  the 
Indian  territory  where,  by  treaty,  it  had  been  prohibited.  That  pre- 
cipitated another  great  struggle  which  proved  of  long  duration.  "It 
is  surprising,"  said  Mrs.  Ellis,  "how  good  men  in  both  Houses  cham- 
pioned liquor."  Senator  Gallinger  introduced  a  resolution  prohibiting 
the  sale  for  twenty-one  years  in  that  part  of  the  state  of  Oklahoma 
known  as  Indian  territory,  but  the  decision  was  finally  left  to  the 
voters.  The  brewers  bitterly  fought  constitutional  prohibition  for 
Oklahoma  on  the  ground  that  they  had  made  heavy  investments  there 
and  with  prohibition  would  sustain  heavy  losses.  They  seemed  to 
forget  that  no  man  has  an  inherent  right  to  engage  in  the  liquor  traffic 
and  that  all  mioney  invested  in  the  business  is  put  into  it  at  the  in- 
vestor's risk. 

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Women    Torch-bearers 


"Old  Glory  is  to  have  another  star  for  the  state  of  Oklahoma!" 
So  announced  Mrs.  Ellis  in  1906,  in  her  "Letter  from  Washington." 
"The  last  legislative  act  to  admit  Oklahoma  and  Indian  territory 
as  a  single  state  of  the  Union  v/as  taken  in  the  House,  June  14,  1906, 
and  received  at  once  the  signature  of  the  President.  During  the  last 
six  years,  one  of  the  most  notable  battles  of  history  has  been  w^aged 
over  statehood.  We  rejoice  over  the  clause  which  insures  for  twenty- 
one  years  prohibition  in  that  section  of  the  state  formerly  Indian  ter- 
ritory and  that  the  liquor  men  driven  from  local  option  counties  in 
contiguous  states  are  for  it."  "It  is  recorded,"  said  Lillian  M.  N. 
Stevens  at  the  next  national  convention,  "that  the  first  public  prayer 
oiifered  in  Oklahoma  was  by  a  woman,  a  white  ribboner,  and  the 
only  woman  present  at  the  organization  of  the  territory  into  a  com- 
monwealth. All  hail  to  the  new  great  state  which  enters  upon  its 
statehood  life  constitutionally  free  from  the  blighting,  blasting  curse 
of  the  legalized  liquor  traffic!" 

Mrs.  Katharine  B.  Patterson  of  New  Mexico,  wrote  Mrs.  Ellis 
asking  her  to  help  influence  the  constitutional  convention  in  New 
Mexico,  as  it  was  made  up  largely  of  liquor  men.  Mrs.  Ellis  went 
to  Senator  Blair  for  advice.  Following  instructions  from  the  national 
Legislative  superintendent,  Mrs.  Patterson  had  a  large  number  of 
circular  letters  printed  in  Spanish  and  they  were  sent  out  under  letter- 
postage.  Later,  on  investigation,  it  was  found  that  eight  hundred  were 
sent  to  the  dead  letter  office.  "It  was  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  that  really 
got  prohibition   into   the  constitution,"   says   Mrs.    Ellis. 

The  New  Mexico  constitution  had  been  written  by  the  corporate 
interests  (coal  and  railway)  mainly,  and  was  made  practically  un- 
amendable.  The  Flood  amendment  was  a  provision  attached  by  Con- 
gress for  the  people  to  vote  upon,  whereby  the  constitution  could  be 
amended  by  a  majority  vote.  Without  that,  there  could  have  been 
no  hope  for  state  constitutional  prohibition.  A  great  fight  was  made 
against  the  Flood  amendment  by  certain  interests;  but  it  passed  by 
a  big  majority,  and  instead  of  putting  prohibition  back,  constitutional 
prohibition  was  carried  in  New  Mexico  by  the  largest  majority  vote 
of  any  state — in  proportion  to  population. 

Mrs.  Katharine  B.  Patterson,  who  with  the  help  of  her  sister,  Mrs. 
Minnie  Byrd,  gave  herself  freely  and  indefatigably  to  the  campaign 
against   seemingly   insurmountable   obstacles,   stated   in   an    address   at 


98 


Legislative    Achievements 


the  next  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention:  "New  Mexico  and 
Arizona  owe  to  Mrs.  Ellis,  our  courageous  national  superintendent  of 
Legislation,  who  sent  out  hundreds  of  letters  and  showed  splendid 
strategy,  to  Ex-Senator  Blair  (whom  the  New  Mexico  ring  politician 
hates  next  to  Senator  Owen)  and  to  Hon.  Mr.  Nicholson,  national 
Anti-Saloon  superintendent,  a  debt,  the  greatness  of  which  nothing  but 
the  centuries  can  reveal," 

It  was  on  the  steamship  "Celtic,"  on  her  trip  to  Glasgow  to  attend 
the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention,  in  1910,  that  Mrs.  Ellis  had  a 
most  interesting  incognito  interview  with  one  of  the  ship's  officers. 
While  she  was  taking  an  evening  constitutional  on  the  deck  she  thought 
she  observed  land  in  the  hazy  distance.  An  officer  of  the  ship  ap- 
proaching her,  she  said,  "Is  that  land  I  see?"  "Yes,  ma'am,"  and  he 
proceeded  to  explain  the  points  of  interest  the  ship  was  approaching. 
"May  I  ask  the  position  you  occupy  on  this  great  ship?"  was  Mrs, 
Ellis'  next  question.  With  manly  dignity  he  replied,  "Ma'am,  I  am 
chief  engineer  on  this  vessel.  I  am  responsible  for  your  life  and  the 
lives  of  all  these  hundreds  of  passengers."  Mrs.  Ellis  said,  "I  have 
heard  that  grog  is  no  longer  provided  for  the  sea  men.  How  do 
they  get  along  without  it?"  "Why,  they  are  infinitely  better  off," 
the  officer  replied,  "At  one  time  in  emergency  we  gave  additional 
drinks  to  the  seamen,  but  soon  found  that  when  the  reaction  came, 
the  men  at  the  engines  were  not  able  to  cope  with  their  arduous 
tasks."  "What  do  you  use  in  place  of  grog?"  Mrs.  Ellis  asked.  "Oat- 
meal water,  and  it  satisfies  and  nourishes,"  replied  the  engineer. 
"How  do  you  prepare  it?"  was  the  next  question.  "Pour  a  quart  of 
uncooked  oatmeal  into  a  pail  of  cold  water.  The  men  stir  it  and 
drink  it  from  their  dippers..  Too  much  cold  water  alone  would  have 
an  unfavorable  physical  effect.  The  men  in  charge  of  the  engines 
stand  intense  heat  far,  far  better  with  this  drink  than  they  did  with 
the  grog." 

In  1910,  Mrs.  Ellis  was  a  delegate  to  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U. 
convention  in  Glasgow,  Scotland,  In  1911,  during  President  Taft's 
administration,  an  invitation  came  from  Wilhelmina,  Queen  of  the 
Netherlands,  to  have  American  delegates  sent  to  the  International 
Congress  Against  Alcoholism,  to  be  held  at  the  Hague,  Twelve 
delegates  were  appointed  by  the  Department  of  State,  including  two 
ladies,  Mrs,  Margaret  Dye  Ellis  and  Mrs.  Edith  Smith  Davis.     The 


99 


Women    Torc  h- be  arers 


presiding  officers  of  the  Congress  were  the  Secretary  of  State,  the 
Attorney  General,  and  the  other  officials  of  the  Holland  government, 
and  the  American  delegates  were  tendered  a  reception  by  the  American 
consul  at  his  residence,  a  three-story  building  two  hundred  years  old, 
in  the  erection  of  which  no  nails  or  screws  had  been  used. 

While  the  congress  was  in  session,  the  state  of  Maine  voted,  after 
a  strenuous  campaign,  on  the  retention  in  the  constitution  of  the  pro- 
hibition amendment.  The  first  word  reaching  one  of  the  largely  at- 
tended sessions  of  the  congress  in  the  Hague  was  that  prohibition  in 
Maine  had  been  defeated  and  the  "Pine  Tree  State"  had  gone  back 
on  its  record.  The  congress,  including  men  from  countries  all  over 
the  world,  received  with  consternation  and  tears  the  disappointing  word. 
The  next  evening,  however,  one  of  the  speakers  was  interrupted  by 
a  commotion.  All  eyes  were  fixed  in  wonderment  upon  a  group  of 
men  standing  in  the  door.  Suddenly,  with  great  enthusiasm,  a  gentle- 
man came  forward  waving  a  cablegram  and  shouting  "Maine  is  all 
right — prohibition  has  triumphed!"  "Who  signed  that  message?"  one 
of  the  American  men  shouted,  and  when  he  heard  the  answer  "Lillian 
M.  N.  Stevens,"  he  exclaimed,  "Then  it  is  authentic,  for  Mrs.  Stevens 
is  not  only  president  of  the  Maine  W.  C.  T.  U.,  but  also  of  the 
National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  of  the  United 
States."     A  joyous  demonstration  followed. 

Why  did  Europeans  as  well  as  Americans  attach  so  much  sig- 
nificance to  the  name  of  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens?  Let  a  brief  outline 
of  the  background  of  Mrs,  Stevens'  legislative  achievements  reply. 
In  1894  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  created  the  office  of  vice-president- 
at-large.  Mrs.  Stevens,  on  the  nomination  of  Frances  E.  Willard,  was 
the  first  to  be  elected  to  that  office.  On  Miss  Willard's  decease, 
February  17,  1898,  Mrs.  Stevens  directed  the  national  organization, 
and  at  the  national  convention  held  in  the  autumn  of  that  year,  was 
elected  president.  Mrs.  Stevens  was  an  extremely  clever  presiding 
officer,  and  her  ability  as  an  organizer,  a  speaker  and  a  writer  on  the 
prohibition  question  was  of  a  superior  quality. 

In  1900  Mrs.  Stevens  was  chosen  vice-president-at-large  of  the 
World's  W.  C,  T,  U,  and  presided  over  the  International  Conventions 
at  Geneva,  Switzerland,  in  1903;  Boston,  Massachusetts,  1906;  Glas- 
gow, Scotland,  1910;  and  Brooklyn,  New  York,  1913.  While  inter- 
ested  in  the  different  phases  of  the  "Do  Everything  Policy"  of  the 


100 


Legislative    Achievements 


W.  C.  T.  U.,  Mrs.  Stevens  was  best  known  in  her  work  for  prohi- 
bition. For  many  years  she  was  Neal  Dow's  chief  coadjutor  ag  they 
carried  out  plan  after  plan.  In  1884,  the  Maine  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union,  under  the  leadership  of  Mrs.  Stevens,  bore  a  large 
share  of  the  burden  of  the  campaign  for  state  constitutional  prohibition. 
Up  to  that  date  prohibition  in  Maine  was  only  statutory,  but  as  a 
result  of  an  earnest  and  comprehensive  campaign,  prohibition  was  writ- 
ten into  the  constitution  of  the  state  by  a  vote  of  three  to  one. 

Increasing  temperance  legislation  throughout  the  country  alarmed 
the  liquor  forces  who  saw  what  it  would  mean  if  they  could  bring  about 
the  resubmission  and  repeal  of  Maine's  prohibitory  law.  In  1911,  the 
insurgency-tariff  wave  which  had  struck  many  sections  of  our  country 
swept  into  office  in  Maine  men  who  were  in  favor  of  resubmission, 
some  of  them  strong  advocates  of  a  license  law.  Without  doubt  the 
turning  point  of  national  prohibition  in  the  United  States  came  with 
the  victorious  settlement  of  the  resubmission  question  in  Maine. 

Mrs.  Stevens'  last  public  address  was  given  in  Portland  on  the 
occasion  of  a  day  of  prayer  for  National  Constitutional  Prohibition. 
Its  topic  was,  "Why  We  Expect  to  Succeed."  The  address  closed  with 
these  words:  "Some  glad  day  the  states  in  which  today  is  entrenched 
the  liquor  system,  will  rejoice  that  it  has  been  abolished.  Science, 
philanthropy,  reform,  religion,  and  the  business  world  are  testifying 
against  the  liquor  traffic.  In  the  light  of  all  this  we  can  see  pro- 
hibition looming  up  all  the  way  from  Mt.  Kineo  in  the  east  to  Mt. 
Shasta  in  the  west,  from  the  pine  forests  in  the  north  to  the  palmetto 
groves  in  the  south.  We  verily  believe  that  the  amendment  for  na- 
tional constitutional  prohibition  is  destined  to  prevail  and  that  by  1920 
the  United  States  flag  v^ill  float  over  a  nation  redeemed  from  the 
home-destroying,  heart-breaking  curse  of  the  liquor  traffic." 

Soon  after  the  passing  on  of  Mrs.  Stevens,  April  6,  1914,  an  un- 
usual tribute  was  paid  her  at  a  great  state  meeting.  Hon.  Charles  S. 
Hichborn  in  presenting  a  resolution  of  appreciation,  said:  "For  the 
first  time  in  our  history  the  state  flag  is  half  masted  for  a  woman. 
It  is  the  silent  tribute  of  a  great  people  to  a  great  life.  It  is  the 
symbol  of  a  great  grief  at  the  passing  of  a  great  soul.  It  seems  fitting, 
too,  that  this  convention  give  expression  to  the  following  sentiment: 
In  the  midst  of  our  deliberations  we  pause  to  pay  the  tribute  of  sincere 
respect  to   the  memory  of   that  woman  whose   name   has   become   a. 


101 


Women    Torch-bearers 


household  word  wherever  men  and  women  are  interested  in  the  cause 
of  temperance  and  righteousness.  The  great  leader  is  dead  but  the 
cause  still  lives.  All  nations  will  pay  homage  to  her  virtues,  and  gen- 
erations yet  unborn  will  venerate  the  heroic  character  of  Maine's 
illustrious  daughter,  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens." 

On  February  8,  1913,  the  Interstate  Commerce  bill  for  the  pro- 
tection of  prohibition  territory  passed  the  House  of  Representatives. 
Accompanied  by  a  group  of  white  ribboners,  Mrs.  Ellis  spent  the  day 
at  the  Capitol.  The  votes  stood  239  in  favor  of  the  bill  to  62  op- 
posed. Monday,  February  10,  the  bill  came  up  in  the  Senate  for 
final  action.  And  the  bill  passed.  It  was  sent  to  the  White  House 
for  the  signature  of  President  Taft,  who  kept  the  bill  until  February 
28,  when  it  was  returned  to  the  Senate  with  his  veto.  Senator  Gal- 
linger,  who  was  in  the  chair,  brought  the  veto  message  to  the  attention 
of  the  Senate.  In  less  than  an  hour  the  Senate  passed  it  over  Presi- 
dent Taft's  veto,  sixty-three  in  favor,  to  twenty-one  opposed.  In  the 
House,  on  the  following  day,  after  a  prolonged  discussion,  the  same 
favorable  action  was  taken  and  the  Interstate  Commerce  bill  became 
a  law. 

The  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  a  notable  factor  in  securing  this  victory. 
Women,  as  well  as  men,  filled  the  galleries.  Representatives  of  the 
liquor  traffic  were  present  in  force,  and  it  was  interesting  to  note  the 
consternation  on  their  faces,  as  the  tally  of  the  votes  was  being  taken. 
One  man,  who  had  been  desperately  prominent,  wa^  seen  to  wring 
his  hands,  as  the  clerk  read  the  overwhelming  result  in  favor  of  the 
bill.  Mrs.  Ellis,  as  she  listened  to  the  speeches,  recalled  the  fact 
that  for  years  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  women  had  splendidly  responded  to 
every  appeal  from  the  national  Legislative  superintendent.  Faithfully 
and  systematically  they  had  sent  letters,  telegrams  and  petitions  to 
Senators  and  Congressmen.  The  men  had  heard  from  home.  En- 
thusiastic W.  C.  T.  U.  leaders  throughout  the  years  had  traveled 
long  distances  to  attend  and  speak  at  the  hearings.  To  one  of  these 
the  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  Georgia  sent  a  delegation  of  forty,  headed  by 
Mrs.  Mary  Harris  Armor. 

At  another  hearing,  a  German  member  of  the  committee  declared 
that  Frances  Willard  in  her  last  days  repudiated  prohibition.  At  the 
close  of  his  testimony,  Miss  Anna  Gordon,  in  a  spirit  of  righteous 
indienation,   addressed  the  chairman,   saying.   "I  was   Miss  Willard's 


102 


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private  secretary  for  twenty-one  years.  Everything  she  wrote  passed 
through  my  hands.  I  was  made  executor  of  her  private  papers.  I 
know  her  every  thought,  and  up  to  the  time  of  her  death  she  supremely 
believed  in  prohibition." 

In  1917,  prohibition  won  in  Porto  Rico.  It  was  the  bottle  and 
the  cocoanut  in  contest.  Porto  Ricans  were  the  first  Latin  people  to 
declare  against  the  traffic  in  alcoholic  liquors  and  it  was  the  first 
election  in  which  the  natives  voted  as  American  citizens.  As  seventy 
per  cent  of  the  registered  voters  were  illiterate,  the  cocoanut  was  used 
as  a  symbol  on  each  ballot  by  the  drys  and  the  bottle  by  the  wets. 

Several  important  hearings  before  the  House  Committee  on  Ter- 
ritories concerning  prohibition  in  Hawaii  and  Alaska,  occurred  in 
January,  1917.  In  her  Letter  from  Washington,  January  18,  1917, 
Mrs.  Ellis  said :  "Miss  Gordon,  representing  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U., 
appeared  before  the  House  committee,  the  Hawaiian  prohibition  bill 
being  under  discussion.  In  urging  a  favorable  report  from  the  com- 
mittee. Miss  Gordon  commended  the  work  of  our  organization  in 
Hawaii  under  the  leadership  of  Mrs.  J.  M.  Whitney,  president  of  the 
Hawaiian  W.  C.  T.  U.  Rev.  John  D.  Wadman  of  Honolulu  made 
a  fine  presentation  of  the  subject  and  we  are  hoping  and  praying  that 
the  Hawaiian  bill  will  pass  both  houses  before  their  adjournment. 
The  next  day,  a  hearing  on  Alaska  was  held  before  the  same  com- 
mittee. On  November  7,  1916,  Alaska  voted  dry  but  being  a  ter- 
ritory, a  bill  has  to  be  passed  by  Congress  making  prohibition  legal. 
The  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  represented  at  this  hearing  by  Miss  Gordon, 
Mrs.  Boole,  Mrs.  Hatcher  and  Mrs.  Yost.  Judge  Wickersham,  dele- 
gate from  Alaska,  introduced  his  measure  and  spoke  warmly  in  its 
favor.  He  then  presented  Senator  Sutherland,  a  member  of  the 
Alaskan  territorial  legislature,  and  Mr.  Herron,  editor  of  xht  Anchorage 
TimeSj  who  urged  the  passage  of  the  bill.  Mrs.  Hatcher,  being 
thoroughly  conversant  with  the  situation,  made  a  convincing  presenta- 
tion of  the  case,  and  Mrs.  Boole  spoke  ably  from  personal  observation 
made  during  a  recent  trip  to  Alaska." 

At  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention  held  in  1918,  Mrs.  Ellis 
made  her  twenty-third,  and  final  annual  report.  She  said  in  part: 
"I  am  deeply  impressed  with  the  advance  of  temperance  sentiment 
during  these  last  twelve  months.  No  such  year  for  temperance  ever 
before  dawned.    Temperance  sentiment  has  grown  by  leaps  and  bounds. 

103 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


To  be  sure,  the  war  and  its  attendant  demands  for  both  army  and 
navy,  have  been  responsible  in  some  measure  for  this  unprecedented 
advance.  But  whatever  the  underlying  cause,  we  thank  God  for  the 
marvelous  result,  and  praise  Him  for  the  removal  of  obstacles  that 
to  human  insight  seemed  insurmountable.  We  began  the  year's  work 
at  Washington,  D.  C,  most  auspiciously,  by  having  the  presence  and 
enthusiasm  of  over  nine  hundred  earnest  white  ribboners,  in  attendance 
at  the  annual  convention  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  The  dear  old 
Capitol  building  was  the  mecca  toward  which  all  hearts  turned,  and 
many  remained  over  to  attend  the  discussion,  and  be  present  when 
the  vote  for  National  Constitutional  Prohibition  was  taken  in  the 
House,  December  17. 

"Among  the  very  noticeable  hindrances  to  temperance  legislation 
in  Congress,  has  been  that  of  the  German-American  Alliance,  which 
in  all  possible  ways  has  striven  to  circumvent  and  prevent  the  efforts 
of  the  temperance  forces  at  the  nation's  capital.  At  the  many  hearings 
for  the  various  temperance  measures  presented,  members  of  the  Alliance 
would  appear  in  force,  always  declaring  their  intense  loyalty  to  the 
government,  but  determined  by  all  odds  to  have  open  saloons,  and 
the  sale  of  liquors  unhindered. 

"During  this  year  of  investigations,  the  German-American  Alliance 
came  in  for  its  share  of  publicity.  A  sub-committee  of  Senators,  not 
all  'dry'  men,  but  loyal  Americans  turned  the  light  on  the  doings 
of  the  Alliance,  and  the  disclosures  of  bribe  and  intrigue  brought  to 
light  are  far  in  advance  of  anything  dreamed  of.  Back  of  the  Alliance 
stood  the  U.  S.  Brewers  Association,  who  financed  the  organization, 
that  they  might  successfully  fight  all  temperance  legislation  proposed 
by  Congress.  It  has  been  divulged  that  the  brewers  have  paid  in  over 
$700,000  alone  to  defeat  Constitutional  Prohibition.  The  report  oi 
the  sub-committee  to  the  full  Judiciary  committee  was  so  convincing, 
and  later  so  reported  to  the  Senate,  that  a  vote  of  that  body  ordered 
a  repeal  of  the  Federal  charter  granted  them  when  organized,  since 
which  time  the  Alliance  claims  to  have  disbanded.  Another  committee 
of  U.  S.  Senators  are,  at  the  present  time,  investigating  the  Brewers' 
Association,  and  so  far  have  brought  to  light  stubborn  facts  as  to  the 
loyalty  of  the  organization.  It  has  been  found  that  since  we  entered 
into  the  war,  the  brewers  have  paid  thousands  of  dollars  to  push  Ger- 
man propaganda.     They  have  bought   daily  newspapers  published   in 


104 


Legislative    Achievements 


difFerent  parts  of  the  country,  to  fight  prohibition.  A  list  of  persons 
engaged  in  business,  and  business  concerns,  who  have  aided  temperance 
in  any  positive  way,  was  shown  the  committee  as  those  who  especially 
came  under  the  ban  of  the  brewers,  and  would  be  punished  accordingly. 
The  investigation  which  is  still  under  way,  bids  fair  to  reveal  a  con- 
dition of  things  that  will  startle  the  country,  both  as  to  their  dis- 
loyalty, and  their  defiance  of  law. 

"Prohibition  for  Alaska,  Porto  Rico,  and  Hawaii,  received  due 
amount  of  attention.  It  seems  impossible  to  convey  in  such  a  report 
as  this,  an  idea  of  the  amount  of  effort,  or  the  methods  emploj^ed  for 
measures  such  as  these.  The  handling  of  petitions,  the  sending  on 
of  letters  from  home,  the  many  interviews,  over,  and  over  again,  the 
many  hearings,  the  disappointments,  the  obstacles  to  meet  with  cheerful 
face — the  ways  of  doing  legislative  work  are  numberless — but  when 
victory  comes,  the  heights  are  reached,  the  long  hard  road  is  forgotten, 
and  we  go  on  our  way  rejoicing,  ready  for  the  next  hard  piece  of 
work. 

"November  21,  1918,  Congress  closed  the  longest  single  session 
in  its  history  to  date,  and  surely  one  of  the  most  important.  When 
it  adjourned,  it  had  been  in  continuous  session  for  three-hundred-and 
fifty-four  days,  only  eleven  days  less  than  a  full  year.  They  have  only 
eleven  days'  recess,  as  the  Sixty-fifth  Congress  meets  in  its  last  session, 
Monday,  December  2. 

"When  I  began  my  work  in  Washington,  there  were  just  three 
states  which  had  a  prohibition  law — Maine,  Kansas,  and  North  Da- 
kota. Now  there  are  twenty-eight,  beside  the  District  of  Columbia, 
Alaska,  Hawaii,  Porto  Rico,  the  Canal  Zone,  and  the  Virgin  Islands. 
When  I  gave  myself  to  the  temperance  cause,  I  enlisted  for  the  war 
When  the  final  vote  was  taken  in  Congress  and  when  forty-five  states 
ratified  the  amendment  and  placed  it  in  the  Constitution,  I  rejoiced 
that  it  had  been  my  privilege  to  work  for  forty  years  and  so  aid  in 
bringing  that  wonderful  victory. 

"There  passes  before  me  like  a  panorama  the  many  bills  in  which 
we  have  been  interested.  One  of  the  pleasures  connected  with  my 
service  has  been  the  unanimity  of  sentiment  and  feeling  of  brotherly 
kindness  exhibited  by  the  members  of  the  different  men's  temperance 
organizations  located  in  Washington,  D.  C,  all  working  along  the 
same  lines  for  the  same  cause.    What  shall  I  say  of  the  District  W.  C. 


105 


Women    Torch-bearers 


T.  U.  presidents  and  the  splendid  rank  and  file  of  the  Woman's  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union  who  were  never  too  weary  to  carry  out  the 
plans  of  their  representative,  and  always  ready  to  do  a  little  more. 
God  bless  them,  every  one!  The  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  an  open  door  for 
me  into  a  closer  walk  with  God.  Through  my  association  v.'ith  white 
ribbon  women,  I  was  led  out  into  a  broader  vision — national  and  inter- 
national. I  shall  always  thank  God  for  what  the  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union  has  done  for  m.e  and  for  mine. 

"Mrs.  Lenna  Lowe  Yost,  my  associate  for  the  past  two  years, 
has  been  a  constant  source  of  helpfulness.  Her  enthusiasm  and  good 
judgment  have  helped  solve  and  smooth  many  knotty  problems.  I  re- 
linquish my  position  as  representative  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U. 
at  Washington,  D.  C,  to  her,  as  one  fully  qualified  to  carry  the  work 
forward  to  complete  victory.  We  have  been  greatly  helped,  and  hon- 
ored, in  having  our  loved  leader,  Miss  Anna  Gordon,  with  us  at 
Washington  headquarters  weeks  at  a  time.  She  is  a  veritable  tower 
of  strength,  and  her  presence  has  been  invaluable.  That  the  work  may 
continue  to  grow  and  expand  until  the  whole  world  shall  be  freed 
from  the  power  and  dominion  of  alcohol,  is  my  earnest  prayer." 

In  1918,  Mrs.  Ellis  was  succeeded  by  Mrs,  Lenna  Lowe  Yost,  of 
West  Virginia,  Possessing  the  ardor  of  young  womanhood,  excep- 
tional acumen  and  expert  experience,  Mrs,  Yost  commenced  her  activi- 
ties as  Legislative  superintendent  and  Legislative  representative,  at 
National  headquarters  in  Washington,  D.  C.  Mrs.  Yost's  unusual 
ability  in  legislative  activities  had  been  demonstrated  when  as  presi- 
dent of  the  West  Virginia  W.  C.  T.  U.  she  led  in  campaigns  for  state 
and  national  prohibition.  She  began  her  training  in  the  practical 
school  of  politics  early  in  her  married  life,  going  personally  to  each 
session  of  the  state  legislature  to  appeal  for  prohibition,  woman  suf- 
frage, child  labor  laws,  and  many  measures  relating  to  the  health  and 
welfare  of  women  in  industry.  At  this  time  her  husband,  Ellis  A. 
Yost,  was  a  member  of  the  legislature,  and  is  well  known  as  the  father 
of  the  state  prohibition  act,  known  as  the  Yost  law. 

The  devotion  of  her  own  and  kindred  organizations  to  her,  and 
to  the  principles  for  which  she  stood  and  worked,  were  unswerving. 
Judge  McWhorter,  one  of  West  Virginia's  prominent  jurists,  and 
chairman  of  the  Ratification  Federation  for  the  state  prohibition  amend- 
ment, in  a  review  of  the  campaign,  in  a  public  address,   referred  to 


106 


Legislative    Achievements 


Mrs.  Yost  as  its  Joan  of  Arc.  Twelve  years  later,  the  same  charac- 
terization was  used  by  an  associate  in  legislative  activities  in  Washing- 
ton, D,  C,  in  reference  to  her  work  at  the  nation's  capital. 

Mrs.  Yost's  supreme  fitness  for  the  strategic  position  she  occupies 
in  the  nation's  capital  city  at  once  was  evident.  Her  attractive  per- 
sonality and  cogent  reasoning  never  failed  to  disarm  the  prejudices  of 
the  Senators  and  Representatives.  From  the  first,  Mrs.  Yost  has 
wisely  co-operated  with  all  the  allied  temperance  forces.  She  repre- 
sents the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  on  the  Woman's  Joint  Congressional 
Committee,  a  remarkable  committee  representative  of  twenty-one  na- 
tional organizations  of  women.  It  acts  as  a  clearing  house  for  all 
the  constituent  organizations.  It  designates  itself  as  "the  outcome  of 
a  movement  on  the  part  of  the  great  national  organizations  of  women 
to  pool  their  resources  and  co-operate  for  the  support  of  Federal  legis- 
lation which  affects  the  interests  of  women  in  particular  and  makes 
for  good  government  in  general."  Mrs.  Yost  is  the  vice-chairman  and 
treasurer,  and  was  the  active  chairman  of  the  sub-committee  that  di- 
rected the  campaign  for  the  Maternity  and  Infancy  Law  now  admin- 
istered by  the  Children's  Bureau.  This  sub-committee  during  the  last 
few  months  of  the  campaign  held  more  than  one  hundred  sessions. 
The  work  of  receiving  reports  and  checking  up  on  531  members  of 
Congress — the  combined  membership  of  the  House  and  Senate — was 
the  task.  In  the  last  week  of  the  contest,  interviews  at  the  rate  of 
fifty  a  day  were  held.  This  sub-committee  interested  the  constituency 
back  home  and  secured  a  co-operation  that  brought  success. 

During  these  later  years,  the  growth  of  the  legislative  work  had 
necessitated  the  removal  of  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  headquarters  from 
the  building  owned  by  the  District  W.  C.  T.  U.  to  the  Hotel  DriscoU 
located  near  the  Capitol,  and  Senate  and  House  offices.  Anyone  who 
has  viewed  by  night  the  artistic  Construction  of  the  Capitol,  illuminated 
by  powerful  electric  lights,  will  appreciate  this  description  given  by 
Mrs.  Ellis:  "Nothing  can  equal  the  spectacle  of  the  white  edifice  float- 
ing, as  it  were,  above  the  city,  the  incomparable  dome  of  perfect  pro- 
portions shining  in  its  purity  against  the  sky;  ethereal,  yet  tangible, 
it  is  a  token  of  the  stability  of  the  government." 

The  two  rooms  in  the  Bliss  Building,  near  the  Capitol,  that  now 
constitute  our  Legislative  headquarters,  with  Mrs.  Yost  in  charge,  are 
indeed  a  hive  of  industry.     Rows  upon  rows  of  cards  in  the  files  of 


107 


Women    To  rc  h  -  b  barer  s 


Allegiance  to  the  Constitution  enrollment  are  indexed  by  Congressional 
Districts  and  are  silent  witnesses  to  the  strength  of  the  dry  sentiment 
in  the  country;  for  every  card  bears  the  name  of  a  dues-paying  member 
of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  Not  only  the  name,  but  the  address  of  each  one 
belonging  to  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  is  registered.  The  white  cards  of 
the  women  members  are  reinforced  by  blue  cards  bearing  the  names 
of  men  honorary  members. 

Frequent  consultations  with  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  W.  C. 
T.  U.  forces  are  necessary,  so  during  sessions  of  Congress  the  na- 
tional president  must  spend  a  part  of  her  time  at  Legislative  head- 
quarters. The  annual  meetings  of  the  National  Temperance  Council 
and  the  National  Legislative  Conference  call  several  general  officers 
to  the  capital  city.  Twenty-seven  organizations  interested  in  pro- 
hibition progress  and  legislation  are  represented  in  these  meetings. 

Another  important  file  at  the  Washington,  D.  C,  headquarters, 
which  since  1918,  the  national  Legislative  superintendent  assiduously 
has  kept  up-to-date,  is  one  giving  the  name  and  voting  record  of  each 
member  of  Congress.  The  vote  "Aye"  or  "No"  on  all  prohibition 
measures  for  the  last  seven  years  can  be  ascertained.  No  member  can 
escape  his  record. 

Since  women  became  voters,  letters  of  inquiry  from  women  leaders 
in  forty-eight  states  have  kept  the  headquarters  force  busy.  Women 
keenly  alive  to  the  responsibility  of  the  ballot  want  to  know  the  stand- 
ing of  Congressmen  seeking  re-election.  "What  has  he  done  to  pro- 
mote prohibition,  the  welfare  of  children,  and  measures  of  special  im- 
portance to  v/omen  and  the  protecting  of  the  home?"  are  some  of  the 
questions  asked.  Evenings  are  spent  looking  up  records.  "On  the 
whole,"  says  Mrs.  Yost,  "there  is  a  gradual  increase  in  the  number 
in  the  House  and  Senate  who  can  be  depended  on  not  only  to  vote 
right,  but  actively  to  assist  in  promoting  a  pending  bill  for  the  better 
enforcement  of  prohibition  law.  In  the  first  session  of  the  Sixtj'-eighth 
Congress  a  goodly  number  who  always  have  voted  wet,  gave  active 
assistance  in  procuring  the  passage  of  additional  prohibition  law  en- 
forcement measures.  Men  and  women  holding  responsible  positions 
write  the  Legislative  superintendent  that  they  highly  value  The  Wash- 
ington Letter  that  appears  weekly  in  The  Union  Signal  because  the 
news  given  is  'condensed,  interesting  and  accurate.'  " 

108 


Legislative    Achievements 


For  the  benefit  of  a  host  of  inquirers,  Mrs.  Yost  published,  at 
the  earliest  opportunity,  a  pamphlet  entitled,  "Twenty  Years  of  Pro- 
hibition Legislation  by  the  United  States  Congress".  In  an  interview, 
Mrs.  Yost  said  most  earnestly,  ''I  was  amazed  to  find  such  a  splendid 
record  of  Federal  legislation.  It  was  a  great  revelation — even  to  me. 
It  reads  like  a  romance!  During  a  period  of  twenty-three  years,  there 
were  only  three  years  in  which  prohibition  legislation  has  not  been 
enacted.     There  has  been  a  gradual  growth  of  prohibition  sentiment." 

This  pamphlet  giving  a  review  of  Federal  legislation  during  twenty 
years  against  the  legalized  liquor  trafHc  includes  the  following  laws: 

"In  1901,  saloons  in  the  army  prohibited;  in  1902,  prohibition  in 
certain  Pacific  ocean  islands;  beginning  with  1903,  recreation  buildings 
provided  for  army  as  substitutes  for  saloons;  in  1903,  saloons  prohibited 
in  the  nation's  Capitol  building;  in  1903,  prohibition  at  immigrant 
stations;  in  1904,  beer  halls  suppressed  in  state  and  territorial  soldiers' 
homes;  in  1906,  suppression  of  canteens  in  national  soldiers'  homes; 
in  1906,  prohibition  for  the  Indian  sections  of  Oklahoma;  in  1906, 
large  appropriations  for  the  suppression  of  the  traffic  among  Indians; 
in  1906,  internal  revenue  amendments  to  assist  in  prosecutions  of  anti- 
liquor  laws;  in  1906,  prohibition  in  Arizona  and  New  Mexico  enabling 
acts;  in  1907,  prohibition  zones  created;  in  1908,  use  of  mails  for 
carrying  intoxicating  liquors  prohibited;  in  1908;  an  appropriation  by 
the  Congress  of  $6000.00,  and  a  code  of  laws  adopted  to  aid  in  the 
suppression  and  regulation  of  the  liquor  traffic  among  the  natives  of 
Alaska;  in  1909,  Mississippi  River  jurisdiction;  in  1911  and  1913, 
appropriations  for  international  congresses  against  alcoholism;  in  1913, 
famous  interstate  shipping  law;  in  1914,  penalty  for  intemperance  in 
the  army;  in  1917,  voting  code  for  Alaska;  in  1917,  prohibition  for 
Porto  Rico;  in  1917,  prohibition  for  the  nation's  capital;  in  1917, 
anti-advertising  and  bone  dry  law;  on  April  6,  1917,  prohibition  as 
war  legislation;  in  May,  1917,  President  authorized  to  establish  zones; 
September  10,  1917,  Congress  prohibits  use  of  foods  for  malt  and 
vinous  liquors;  in  1917,  war  prohibition  for  Hawaii;  November  21, 
1918,  war  prohibition  for  the  nation;  in  1917,  submission  of  the  pro- 
hibition amendment.  In  the  midst  of  war  legislation  the  Senate  of  The 
United  States  received  from  its  Judiciary  Committee  a  favorable  re- 
port recommending  passage  of  the  resolution  providing  for  National 
Constitutional  Prohibition  and  by  a  vote  of  65  to  20  it  was  passed 


109 


Women    Torc  h- b  barer  s 


August  1,  1917.  The  House  adopted  the  resolution  with  amendments 
December  17,  1917,  by  more  than  the  necessary  two- thirds  majority, 
the  vote  being  282  for  and  126  against.  The  following  day  the  Senate 
concurred  in  the  House  amendments  and  the  famous  joint  resolution 
was  promptly  transmitted  to  the  states  for  ratification. 

"Ratification  by  fifteen  states  was  secured  during  191.8.  Beginning 
January  2,  1919,  thirty  additional  states  ratified  by  February  25, 
making  forty-five  in  all  ratifying  the  Eighteenth  Amendment.  Con- 
necticut, Rhode  Island  and  New  Jersey  failed  to  ratify. 

"On  January  16,  1919,  ratification  day,  the  thirty-sixth  state  rati- 
fied, making  the  required  number,  and  thus  according  to  the  amend- 
ment itself,  national  prohibition  became  operative  at  midnight,  Jan- 
uary 16,  1920. 

"On  July  22,  1920,  the  prohibition  enforcement  bill  passed  the 
House  of  Representatives  after  two  months'  consideration,  by  a  vote 
of  287  to  100,  and  passed  the  Senate  September  5,  without  a  record 
vote.  The  bill  was  sent  to  conference  and  differences  were  settled, 
and  on  October  15,  it  was  signed  by  the  President  of  the  Senate  and 
the  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  transmitted  to  the  President  the  fol- 
lowing day..  On  October  27,  the  President  vetoed  the  bill.  By  one 
of  the  swiftest  and  most  decisive  votes  in  the  history  of  Congress  the 
bill  was  passed  over  the  President's  veto  and,  therefore,  became  a  law. 
The  bill  covered  the  whole  subject  of  enforcement  for  both  war  time 
and  constitutional  prohibition  and  defined  intoxicating  liquors  as  any 
beverage  containing  more  than  one  half  of  one  percentum  of  alcohol 
by  volume.  This  closed  another  act  in  the  long  struggle  for  the 
victory  of  a  great  principle. 

"On  November  18,  1921,  the  Willis-Campbell  bill  was  .passed. 
The  main  provisions  of  the  bill  are  the  prohibition  of  the  use  of  beer 
or  malt  liquors  for  medical  purposes,  the  extension  of  prohibition  to 
Hawaii  and  the  Virgin  Islands,  prohibition  of  the  prescription  of  more 
than  one-fourth  of  one  gallon  of  vinous  liquors  within  ten  days  and 
the  prohibition  of  more  than  100  prescriptions  to  a  physician  in  three 
months,  unless  some  extraordinary  reason  is  given,  and  stops  irnporta- 
tion  of  spirituous  and  vinous  liquors  until  the  present  supply  is  not 
sufficient  to  supply  the  current  needs  for  non-beverage  uses,  and  pre- 
vents search  and  seizure  of  a  private  dwelling  without  a  search  war- 
rant. 


110 


Legislative    Achievements 


"March  13,  1924,  United  States-Great  Britain  Treaty:  The 
United  States-Great  Britain  treaty  to  cope  with  the  rum  smuggling 
problem  was  ratified  by  the  United  States  Senate,  March  13,  1924, 
by  a  vote  of  61  to  7.  The  treaty  had  the  signatures  of  Secretary 
Hughes  and  the  British  Ambassador,  Mr.  Geddes,  on  January  24. 
This  treaty  has  somewhat  inaccurately  been  referred  to  as  the  twelve- 
mile  limit  agreement.  The  fact  is,  no  specific  limit  is  placed.  Under 
the  terms  of  the  treaty,  any  ship  suspected  of  smuggling  liquor  under 
the  British  flag  would  be  liable  to  search  and  seizure  if  intercepted 
within  an  hour's  sailing  distance  from  shore,  the  speed  of  the  ship  be- 
ing the  measure.  It  has  been  estimated  that  this  averages  about  12 
miles,  though  in  the  case  of  faster  ships,  the  zone  of  possible  seizure 
might  be  much  broader;  the  estimate  led  to  naming  it  the  12-mile 
treaty. 

"In  reciprocity,  the  agreement  grants  British  ships  the  right  to 
carry  sealed  stores  of  ship  liquors  within  American  waters  for  use  on 
the  return  voyage.  The  question  has  been  raised  whether  this  is  prac- 
tical under  a  recent  Supreme  Court  decision,  but  it  was  possible  to 
secure  this  agreement  with  Great  Britain  only  by  writing  it  into  the 
treaty  and  taking  a  chance  on  its  interpretation  by  the  court." 


Ill 


CHAPTER  VI 
Patriotism  and  War  Prohibition 

Fifty  years  ago,  the  "call"  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  was,  in  reality,  a  "call  to  the  colors."  "For  Native  Land,"  was  in- 
cluded in  the  winning  rally-cry  of  these  women  patriots  as  they  sought 
the  annihilation  of  the  greatest  enemy  that  imperiled  the  home  and  the 
nation.  They  reverenced  their  country's  flag  "with  its  red  for  love; 
its  white  for  law,  and  its  blue  for  the  hope  that  our  fathers  saw, 
of  a  larger  liberty,"  and  they  saw  this  symbol  of  a  great  nation  floating 
over  legalized  breweries  and  distilleries.  With  invincible  determina- 
tion the  white  ribboners  joined  hands  for  the  destruction  of  these  un- 
American  instftutions,  and  were  at  the  front  in  purifying  Old  Glory 
from  the  stains  of  the  liquor  traffic.  The  leaders  who  dared,  and 
scores  of  the  rank  and  file  were  "minute"  women,  bravely  voicing  the 
danger  that  confronted  the  republic. 

In  1883,  many  of  the  saddened  women  of  the  "solid  south"  re- 
sponded to  the  loving  impact  of  the  white  ribbon  women  of  the  north. 
In  the  civil  war,  these  southern  women  had  suflfered  the  loss  of  homes, 
husbands  and  sons.  The  story  of  their  enlistment  in  the  peaceful,  non- 
sectional  war  that  was  to  save  their  homes,  husbands  and  sons,  already 
has  been  told.  The  "solid  south"  became  "solid"  for  prohibition. 
The  women  who  were  God's  messengers  in  helping  to  bring  together 
the  embittered  sections  of  the  United  States,  were  staunch  generals 
in  the  army  of  peace.  Their  guns  were  ballots,  their  bullets  were 
ideas.     Their  message  was  both  religious  and  patriotic. 

In  1887,  for  the  first  time,  the  National  Woman's  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union  convened  south  of  the  Mason  and  Dixon's  line — in 
Nashville,  Tennessee.  As  Frances  Willard  greeted  this  assembly  of 
delegates  from  the  north,  south,  east  and  west,  with  every  southern 
state  represented,  she  told  of  the  "tugging  at  her  heart"  when  she 
first  saw  the  ocean,  the  Alps,  St.  Peters  at  Rome,  and  the  city  of 
Jerusalem,  and  fervently  said:  "At  this  hour  I  am  in  the  presence  of 
one  of  God's  mightiest  spectacles  of  the  moral  sublime,  and  it  is  too 
great  for  me — it  is  high,  I  cannot  attain  unto  it.  For  today  the  Na- 
tional Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  has  been  made  welcome 
in  the  conservative  metropolis  of  southern  education,  the  home  of 
Mrs.  President  Polk  and  the  vicinity  of  Andrew  Jackson's  'Hermitage.' 

112 


Patriotism    and    War    Prohibition 

There  is  a  spirit  in  Nashville's  air  today  that  makes  of  every  breath 
a  sacred  inspiration.  The  people  here  may  not  know  it,  but  history 
will  know,  that  since  this  city  was  founded  on  the  banks  of  the  Cum- 
berland, no  assembly  of  a  significance  so  far-reaching  has  ever  before 
been  convened  within  its  borders.  Here,  side  by  side,  sit  the  blue  and 
the  gray.  Prohibition  first  of  all  is  the  fixed  point  whence  we  cal- 
culate all  others — no  saloon  in  politics  or  law,  no  sectionalism  in  law 
or  politics,  no  sex  in  citizenship,  but  liberty,  equality,  fraternity  in 
politics  and  law  now  and  forever  more.  When  in  all  historj.-  were 
such  matchless  issues  espoused? 

"The  women  who  uniformed  their  sons  in  southern  gray  and  said, 
like  the  Spartan  mother  of  old,  'Come  ye  as  conquerers,  or  come  ye 
no  more,'  are  here  tonight  with  those  women  who  belted  northern 
swords  upon  their  boys  in  blue  with  words  as  pitiful,  as  brave.  The 
women  who  embroidered  stars  and  stripes  upon  the  blessed  flag  that 
symbolized  their  love  and  faith  today  have  only  gentle  words  for  those 
who  decked  their  'bonny  flag  of  stars  and  bars'  with  tenderness  as  true 
and  faith  as  fervent.  What  hath  God  wrought?  Surely  a  winsome 
thing  is  the  human  heart.  The  bloodless  warfare  of  today,  where  wom- 
en share  the  field  with  men,  makes  us  forget  the  past. 

'O  veterans  of  the  Blue  and  Gray,  who  fought  on  southern  field 
The  purposes  of  God  are  true.  His  judgment  stands  revealed; 
The  pangs  of  war  have  rent  the  veil,  and  lo  His  high  decree, 
One  heart,  one  hope,  one  destiny,  one  flag  from  sea  to  sea.' 

"When  the  troops  were  mustered  out  in  1864  we  little  dreamed 
that  just  ten  years  later  we  should  be  together  in  line  of  battle,  but 
behold — here  are  the  women  who  went  to  the  polls  pleading  with 
voters  to  do  the  right  in  Michigan  and  Oregon,  side  by  side  with 
those  who  went  in  Tennessee  and  Texas,  The  south  is  'solid'  still, 
but  it  is  for  home  protection;  the  'free  ballot  and  fair  count'  have 
come,  but  it  is  through  local  option  contests;  the  northern  and  the 
southern  heart  are  fired  alike,  but  it  is  by  the  ringing  bugle  blast  of 
'Prohibition.'  " 

In  the  year  1917,  a  state  of  war  between  the  United  States  and 
the  imperial  German  government  was  declared.  The  National  Wom- 
an's Christian  Temperance  seized  the  tragic  opportunity  for  service. 
Five  hundred  thousand  white  ribboners  made  articulate  the  patriotism 
of  their  organization.     Many  of  the  leaders  attended  the  extraordinary 

113 


Women    Torch-bearers 


session  of  the  Sixty-fifth  Congress  which  opened  April  2,  1917  and 
was  formally  addressed  by  President  Wilson.  A  resolution  declaring 
the  United  States  at  war  with  Germany  was  passed  in  the  Senate 
(82-6)  ;  and  in  the  House  (373-50). 

On  April  4,  after  the  war  resolution  had  been  adopted,  Senator 
Sheppard  introduced  as  a  vital  war  measure,  a  resolution  calling 
for  an  amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution.  He  declared  that  the 
adoption  of  this  amendment  would  be  a  measure  of  preparedness  as 
"prohibition  is  necessary  to  the  efficiency  of  our  man  power  and  conser- 
vation of  our  resources."  The  mothers  of  the  country,  so  many  of 
them  in  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  were  saddened  but  heroic.  An  unspoken 
cry,  an  inarticulate  prayer,  went  up  from  every  home.  There  was  an 
out-reaching  response  in  the  heart  of  the  national  president,  Anna  Gor- 
don, as  she  sent  broadcast  immediately  after  Congressional  action,  this 
significant  call: 

"Our  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  has  been  a  foremost 
factor  in  educational  work  for  peace  and  international  arbitration,  but 
we  are  loyal  daughters  of  our  country  and  we  are  face  to  face  with  war. 
We  shall  meet  the  situation  with  sublime  courage,  with  Christian 
optimism  and  with  the  self  sacrifice  of  the  patriot.  Let  us  be  worthy 
of  Frances  Willard's  characterization  of  our  organization:  'There 
were  never  such  women  as  our  white-ribboners,  so  large  hearted,  so 
generous,  such  patriots,  such  Christians.'  Let  us  give  to  our  soldiers 
and  sailors  our  best  service.  We  are  fortunate  at  this  critical  hour  to 
have  in  both  Senate  and  House  of  the  United  States  Congress,  many 
strong  prohibition  friends.  Prohibition,  as  a  war  measure,  will  be  vig- 
orously pushed  by  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  as  well  as  by  other  tem- 
perance agencies  centered  in  Washington.  Already,  our  friends  in 
Congress  are  considering  how  they  can  best  safeguard  our  boys.  The 
prohibition  program  of  this  extraordinary  session  of  the  Sixty-fifth 
Congress  ought  to  fully  meet  the  ardent,  prayerful  hope  of  mothers  whose 
boys  may  soon  be  subjected  to  the  awful  fortunes  of  war.  The  enact- 
ments of  this  Congress  called  to  deal  with  war  measures,  should  be 
in  accord  with  the  mighty  progress  of  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  a  sober 
nation — a  sentiment  which  today  is  insistently  calling  for  national 
prohibition."  The  instant  enthusiastic  response  to  Miss  Gordon's 
call  was  the  wide-spread  adoption  of  the  slogan:  "Every  white 
ribboner,  a  prohibition  patriot." 


114 


Patriotism    and    War    Prohibition 

The  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  co-operated  with  government  plans  for 
women's  war  service,  and  were  members  of  the  advisory  committee  of 
the  Woman's  Committee  of  the  Council  of  National  Defense,  of  which 
Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw  was  appointed  chairman,  and  of  the  advisory 
committee  of  the  Women's  Liberty  Loan  Committee.  They  were  also 
members  of  the  National  Temperance  Council,  the  United  Committee 
on  War  Temperance  Activities  in  the  Army  and  Navy,  the  National 
Legislative  Conference,  and  the  Commission  of  Nineteen,  on  National 
Constitutional  Prohibition.  A  magic  increase  in  the  spirit  of  co- 
operation was  shown  in  the  organization  of  the  United  Committee 
on  War  Temperance  Activities  in  the  Army  and  Navy.  In  this  coming 
together  of  the  mighty  forces  of  temperance  and  philanthropy  rep- 
resenting also  leaders  in  the  church,  eighteen  noble  bodies  were 
patriotically  united.  The  president  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  was 
elected  vice-chairman  of  this  responsible  committee.  Each  society 
was  given  its  special  work,  and  a  budget  of  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars  supplied  the  funds,  each  society  administering  its  own  war 
budget. 

The  stupendous  task  of  planning  the  war  activities  of  the 
National  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  valiantly  undertaken  by  the  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.  War  Work  Committee.  This  committee  consisted  of  the 
national  general  ofiEicers,  and  six  National  W  .C.  T.  U.  superintendents, 
whose  departments  were  closely  related  to  the  activities  occasioned  by 
the  war.  They  were:  Margaret  Dj^e  Ellis,  of  Washington,  D.  C, 
superintendent  of  the  department  of  Legislation:  Ella  Hoover 
Thacher,  superintendent  of  the  department  of  Soldiers  and  Sailors; 
Leila  M.  Sewall,  superintendent  of  the  Flower  Mission  and  Relief 
Work;  Mary  E.  Brown,  superintendent  of  the  department  of  Moral 
Education;  Lucia  F.  Additon,  superintendent  of  the  department  of 
Temperance  and  Labor;  Ella  Black,  superintendent  of  the  department 
of  Foreign  Speaking  People. 

The  burden  of  decision  necessarily  rested  upon  the  three  resident 
general  ofScers,  the  national  president,  Anna  A.  Gordon,  the  correspond- 
ing secretary,  Frances  P.  Parks,  and  the  treasurer,  Margaret  C.  Munns, 
The  organization  owes  much  to  Mrs.  Parks'  initiative  and  daily  sys- 
tematic supervision  of  the  committee's  plans  and  problems.  The  ma- 
chinery of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  department  of  Work  Among 
Soldiers  and  Sailors  was  especially  adapted  to  service  along  Red  Cross 

115 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


lines  and  for  years  had  been  mobilized  for  duty  of  this  nature.  As 
the  liquor  and  vice  interests  had  established  themselves  near  military- 
centers,  all  good  citizens  in  the  vicinity  of  recruiting  stations  and 
mobilization  and  training  camps  were  urged  by  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  to 
see  that  the  soldiers  were  not  subjected  to  temptation. 

For  thirty  years  the  superintendent  of  the  department  of  work 
for  Soldiers  and  Sailors,  Ella  Hoover  Thacher,  had  been  visiting 
naval  training  stations  and  forts  and  holding  gospel  temperance  meet- 
ings with  the  men.  As  she  again  visited  these  military  stations  she 
found  her  knowledge  of  conditions  and  friendly  acquaintance  with 
military  and  navy  officers  most  helpful  in  the  promotion  of  war 
activities. 

The  work  for  soldiers,  sailors  and  marines  and  for  general  relief 
work  was  standardized  by  Red  Cross  rules.  Mrs.  Thacher,  through 
her  state  associates,  had  her  special  plans  of  work  well  in 
hand.  This  included  purchasing  electric  fans,  furnishing  fruit 
and  delicacies  for  army-base-hospitals,  social  welfare  work  and 
activities  in  the  army  training  camp  and  mobilization  centers,  serv- 
ing coffee  and  doughnuts  or  cake  and  lemonade  to  soldiers  and  sailors 
as  they  entrained,  and  giving  to  each  a  copy  of  the  "Soldiers  Temper- 
ance Songster"  and  a  total  abstinence  pledge-card.  The  co-operation 
of  women  and  men  in  all  the  churches,  especially  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  camps,  was  sought. 

In  1918,  on  the  resignation  of  Mrs.  Thacher  as  national  super- 
intendent, Mrs.  Richmond  Pearson  Hobson,  upon  the  earnest  solicita- 
tion of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  officers,  loyally  assumed  the  duties 
of  national  superintendent.  In  this  position  she  met  with  marked 
success  and  was  aided  by  her  distinguished  husband,  Captain  Hobson, 
the  hero  of  the  "Merrimac." 

The  prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
went  into  efifect  September  8,  1917.  This  caused  great  rejoicing 
among  the  mothers  of  the  country,  for  hundreds  of  their  soldier  and 
sailor  sons  thus  escaped  the  alluring  temptation  of  the  saloon. 

The  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  Washington,  D.  C,  with  the  aid  of  the  Dis- 
trict W.  C.  T.  U.,  Mrs.  Emma  Sanford  Shelton,  president,  and  the 
generous  gifts  and  supervision  of  Mrs.  Thacher,  opened  a  recreation 
and  rest  room  which  was  gratefully  enjoyed  by  sailors  from  the  near- 
by  forts   and   soldiers   from  military   posts.      The   following   incident 


116 


Patriotism    and    War    Prohibition 

illustrating  the  efforts  of  a  former  United  States  President  to 
protect  the  young  recruits  of  the  Civil  War  from  drink  often  was 
told  in  that  rest  room.  When  Abraham  Lincoln,  Commander-in- 
chief  of  the  army  and  navy,  happened  to  see  in  the  streets  of  the 
capital  city,  a  young  soldier  starting  to  enter  a  corner  saloon,  he 
laid  on  his  shoulder  a  firm,  detaining  hand.  The  lad,  looking  up, 
saw  a  kind  fatherly  face,  and  recognized  at  once,  the  President  of 
the  United  States  whose  framed  picture  held  an  honored  place  in 
his  country  home.  *'I  never  want  to  see  the  United  States  uniform 
going  into  a  place  like  that,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  he  gently  led  the 
young  soldier  into  safer  surroundings.  At  a  meeting  of  veterans 
many  years  later,  an  old  man  in  a  faded  uniform  told  this  story,  and 
said,  "I  was  that  soldier  boy,  and  it  was  Abraham  Lincoln  who  saved 
me  from  the  curse  of  drink.  The  thought  of  that  noble,  sorrowful, 
fatherly  face  has  ever  been  with  me." 

The  patriotic  service  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  included  successful 
educational  and  social  work  in  camps,  in  reconstruction  hospitals,  the 
sending  of  motor  ambulances,  motor  field  kitchens,  providing  hostess 
houses,  hospital  mothers,  stereomotorgraphs,  cheer-up  books  for  the 
blind,  comfort  kits,  knitted  articles,  hospital  delicacies  and  flowers 
lavishly  contributed;  it  supplied  speakers  in  camp,  literature  for  the 
soldiers,  sailors  and  marines,  and  slides  showing  the  scientific  value 
of  total  abstinence. 

It  is  impossible  to  depict  in  detail  the  stirring  patriotic  scenes 
enacted;  for  every  state  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  alive  to  its  opportunity. 
In  their  local  and  special  meetings,  while  carrying  out  their  schedule, 
W.  C.  T.  U.  programs,  groups  of  white  ribboners  all  over  the  coun- 
try made  comfort  bags  and  hospital  and  Red  Cross  supplies.  The 
constant  contact  of  white  ribboners  of  twenty  thousand  local  unions 
with  the  members  of  women's  clubs,  missionary  and  patriotic  societies 
and  leaders  of  community  centers  was  mutually  helpful. 

In  sixteen  states,  in  response  to  the  government's  needs,  miracle 
cities  sprang  up.  In  a  peculiar  way,  white  ribboners  were  interested 
in  the  training  camps  to  which  the  citizen  soldiers  of  their  own  state 
reported  for  duty.  Never  in  the  history  of  the  world  has  any  gov- 
ernment provided  so  carefully  for  the  all-round  welfare  of  the  en- 
listed man.  The  war  department  recognized  the  necessity  of  protect- 
ing them  from  alcohol,  gambling  and  vice,  and  "white  zones"  relent- 

117 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


lessly  enclosed  every  camp  and  cantonment.  The  comprehensive  scheme 
by  the  Committee  of  Protective  Work  for  Girls,  included  the  appoint- 
ment of  policewomen  w^ho  w^orked  under  direction  of  the  city  police. 
The  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  promoted  the  plan  for  the  care  of  girls 
issued  through  the  Department  of  Health  and  Recreation  of  the 
Woman's  Committee  of  the  Council  of  National  Defense.  The  police- 
women helped  in  the  solution  of  the  tremendous  problems  growing  out 
of  the  mobilization  of  a  million  and  a  half  of  men  in  more  than 
eighty  training  camps.  The  spirit  of  youth,  combined  with  patriotic 
fervor  and  a  disposition  to  hero  worship,  made  an  appalling  problem 
in  communities  frequented  by  men  from  nearby  camps.  The  police- 
woman patriot,  with  her  large  sympathy,  clear  understanding  of  girl- 
hood danger,  her  sisterly  care  backed  by  authority,  was  enabled  to 
protect  the  girls  ignorant  of  danger  and,  whether  desired  or  not,  to 
give  help. 

Plans  issued  by  the  Woman's  Section,  Social  Hygiene  Division  ot 
the  Committee  on  Training  Camp  Activities,  received  the  support  of 
the  W.  C.  T.  U.  Whether  the  approach  was  made  through  the 
patriotic  appeal,  the  religious  motive,  or  scientific  fact,  the  common  goal, 
a  "white  life  for  two"  had  long  been  familiar  to  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 
Properly  chaperoned  entertainments,  with  music  and  refreshments, 
were  given  by  the  young  people.  White  ribbon  girls  by  setting  a 
high  social  standard,  exerted  a  restraining  influence  over  those  young 
women  who  foolishly  failed  to  observe  toward  men  in  uniform  the 
proprieties  that  prevail  in  times  of  peace.  "Keep  the  home  fires  burn- 
ing" was  one  of  the  most  popular  songs  rendered  in  the  camps  by  the 
Young  People's  Branch  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 

The  example  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  corresponding  secre- 
tary in  sending  out  helpful  war  bulletins,  was  followed  by  some  of 
the  state  presidents.  "Patriotism  of  a  practical  type  has  characterized 
the  W.  C.  T.  U.  from  north  to  south,  from  east  to  west,"  said  Mrs. 
Parks  in  one  of  her  able  documents.  "It  is  illustrated  from  the  Old 
Bay  State  to  the  Land  of  the  Golden  Gate,  from  the  Canadian  border 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  patriotic  service  of  the  W.  C.  T,  U. 
is  so  attractive  and  appealing  and  so  carefully  co-ordinated  that  men, 
as  well  as  women,  are  flocking  to  our  aid  with  money  and  personal 
help.  The  International  Film  Company  has  taken  pictures  of  some 
of  our  large  Comfort  Bag  Shops.     White  ribboners  are  sending  out 


118 


The  Georgia  W  C. 
T.  U.  War  Service 
Flag.  The  Stars 
represent  sons,  hus- 
bands and  brothers 
of     white     ribboners. 


Medal  presented  by  the  French  gov- 
ernment, in  gratitude  for  distinguished 
W.  C.  T.  U.  war  relief  service,  to  Miss 
Leila  M.   Sewall 


National   W.    C.    T.    U.   Ambulance    used   in 
war  service  in  France. 


Patriotism    and    War    Prohibition 


hundreds  of  thousands  of  these  indispensable  articles.  Conspicuous 
work  at  Fort  Sheridan  and  the  Great  Lakes  Naval  Training  station 
is  being  accomplished."  Many  mothers  were  interested  in  holding  up 
for  their  sons  and  other  soldiers  a  high  standard  of  purity.  It  was  the 
patriotic  white  ribbon  mother  of  college  sons  who  wrote  the  clean 
life  pledge,  which  was  signed  by  four  thousand  men  of  the  First  Re- 
serve Officers  Training  Camp  at  Fort  Sheridan.     It  reads  as  follows: 

"1.  We  undertake  to  maintain  our  part  of  the  war  free  from 
hatred,  wanton  brutality  or  graft,  true  to  the  American  purpose  and 
ideals. 

"2.  Aware  of  the  temptation  incident  to  camp  life  and  the  moral 
and  social  wreckage  involved,  we  covenant  together  to  live  the  clean 
life  and  to  seek  to  establish  the  American  uniform  as  a  symbol  and 
guarantee  of  real  manhood." 

"A  mother's  a  mother,  the  world  over."  The  appeal  for  war 
relief  took  fast  hold  on  the  hearts  of  "organized  mother  love," 
Miss  Willard's  name  for  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  In  every  cry  for  help  from 
the  famished  and  orphaned  children  of  Europe,  each  true  woman 
heard  the  cry  of  her  own  child.  Nearly  three  thousand  father- 
less children  were  adopted  at  a  cost  of  over  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  White  ribbon  women  also  made  eighty-one  thousand,  five 
hundred  garments,  costing  approximately  six  thousand  dollars.  These 
were  "turned  in"  through  the  committee,  Children  of  the  Frontier, 
and  also  through  the  Red  Cross.  In  their  relief  work  W.  C.  T.  U. 
women  also  included  those  at  home.  In  all  these  activities  there  was 
co-operation  with  the  folloviang  agencies:  Home  Service  of  the  Red 
Cross,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  War  Camp  Community  Service, 
Women's  Committee  of  the  Council  of  National  Defense,  Fatherless 
Children  of  France,  and  the  Belgium  and  French  Relief  Society.  In 
practically  every  state  flowers  in  abundance  were  distributed  in  the 
base  hospitals  and  among  the  families  in  service.  Miss  Leila  M. 
Sewall,  of  Boston,  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  superintendent  of  Flower 
Mission  and  Relief  Work,  who  promoted  the  adoption  of  French 
orphans,  received  from  the  French  government,  in  gratitude  for  dis- 
tinguished service,  the  artistically  inscribed  medal  pictured  on  another 
page. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  World  War,  an  army  of  workers,  a  large 
number  of  them  women,  worked   at  high  pressure  to  turn  out  the 

119 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


war  orders  for  the  Allies.  The  entrance  of  the  United  States  into 
the  conflict  increased  the  demand  for  women  workers,  many  of 
whom  received  sisterly  advice  and  aid  through  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 
department  of  Women  in  Industry.  Over  one  million  women  were 
employed  in  essential  war  industrial  Work.  The  Committee  on  Women 
in  Industry  of  the  Council  of  National  Defense  recomm.ended  cer- 
tain standards  for  government  contracts  which  would  prevent  un- 
just profiteering.  The  W.  C.  T.  U.  materially  aided  in  pushing  the 
suggestions  of  the  committee.  The  recommendations  for  the  pro- 
tection of  women  and  children  included  tenement  house  work,  child 
labor,  safeguarding  of  mothers,  wages,  hours  of  work,  seats,  extra 
heavy  and  hazardous  occupations,  heavy  lifting  and  exposure  to  heat 
and  cold.  It  was  immensely  gratifying  to  the  Committee  of  Women  in 
Industry  to  receive  assurance  from  the  Secretary  of  War  that  all  army 
clothing  produced  under  government  contract  should  be  made  under 
clean  and  sanitary  conditions.  It  was  also  encouraging  to  have  the 
chairman  of  the  Department  of  Women  in  Industry,  Miss  Agnes 
Nestt>r,  so  honored.  In  co-operation  with  the  National  Council  of 
women,  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  prepared  to  engage  in  definite  work 
under  the  Labor  Department  of  the  Federal  government  which  ar- 
ranged for  military  and  general  relief  and  for  the  establishment  and 
maintenance  of  employment  bureaus  for  women  who  were  obliged  to 
take  the  places  of  men  called  to  the  colors. 

"The  woman  touch,"  said  Frances  Willard,  "is  to  brighten  every 
nook  and  corner  of  the  earth."  Since  people  of  almost  every  "nook 
and  corner"  have  come  to  America,  the  land  of  opportunity,  the 
"melting  pot"  of  the  nations,  it  was  the  "woman  touch"  through  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.  department  of  Americanization,  with  Mrs.  Ella  B.  Black, 
superintendent,  that  expedited  throughout  the  war,  the  contact  with 
foreign  speaking  people,  especially  with  the  wives  and  mothers.  In 
all  the  states  having  a  large  percentage  of  foreigners,  the  state  presi- 
dents, and  the  state  superintendents  of  Americanization  actively  parti- 
cipated in  the  program  for  the  beneficent  "woman  touch." 

With  a  large  city  of  the  middle  west  as  the  central  point  of  service, 
the  state  in  which  it  was  located,  with  eighty-seven  thousand,  five 
hundred  and  forty-seven  foreign-born  women,  among  them  Italians, 
Bohemians,^  Roumanians,  Hungarians,  Syrians,  Poles,  Croatians,  Greeks, 
Swedes   and   Chinese,   adopted   as  its    watchward,    "America    First." 


120 


Patriotism    and    War    Prohibition 

Already,  the  city  had  opened  Americanization  headquarters  with  a 
salaried  worker.  Great  emphasis  was  laid  on  the  education  of  both 
the  new  Americans  themselves  and  volunteer  workers  on  their  behalf 
who  were  trained  to  proceed  carefully  and  intelligently.  The  ini- 
tiative taken  by  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  the  metropolis  led  other  organiza- 
tions to  engage  in  similar  efforts  on  a  co-operative  basis,  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 
superintendent  acting  as  chairman  of  the  visiting  committee.  In 
New  York  City,  thickly  populated  with  foreigners,  a  paid  worker 
labored  among  the  Greeks  and  emigrants  from  the  region  of  the  Bal- 
kans, doing  humanitarian.  Christian  service.  The  foreign-born  women 
of  New  York  City  numbered  over  a  million.  The  workers  persuaded 
both  men  and  women  to  invest  their  beer  money  in  liberty  bonds  and 
war-savings  stamps.  Foreigners  were  prevailed  upon  to  take  out 
naturalization  papers.  The  chief  cause  of  poverty  was  found  to  be 
not  a  low  wage,  but  expenditure  of  money  for  liquor.  A  survey  of 
twenty-two  states  was  made  at  this  time.  In  the  population  of  these 
commonwealths,  there  were  2,945,615  foreign-born  white  women,  also 
Spanish,  Japanese,  Italian,  French,  Slav,  Polish,  Hungarian,  Lithuanian, 
Slovak,  Croatian,  Russian,  Greek,  Swedish,  Jewish,  Albanian,  Syrian, 
Bohemian,  Scandinavian  and  Mexican.  About  thirty-eight  per  cent 
spoke  English.  When  the  battle-cry  of  democracy  sounded,  call- 
ing the  men  of  America  to  arms,  it  found  their  wives  and  daugh- 
ters also  ready  and  longing  to  do  their  bit.  "How  can  I  help?"  was 
the  cry  on  every  side.  Many  entertainments  were  held  for  the  benefit 
of  soldiers  and  sailors.  Libraries  and  writing  facilities  were  pro- 
vided in  recreation  rooms.  Christmas  packages,  scrap-books,  candy, 
flowers,  victrolas,  records  and  "smilage"  books,  found  their  way  to 
the  boys.  Hospital  cots  were  equipped  and  large  sums  of  money  dona- 
ted. Books  were  contributed  to  the  number  of  nearly  one  hundred  and 
four  thousand,  and  nearly  168,000  magazines.  "Save,  Serve,  Sacrifice" 
and  "Bar  the  barley  from  the  bar  and  bake  it  into  bread,"  became  the 
rally-cries  as  the  problems  connected  with  the  high  cost  of  living  con- 
fronted the  nation. 

Flashing  electric  signs  gave  to  the  public  the  slogan,  "Food  will 
Decide  the  War."  Women  in  the  grain  producing  states  considered 
themselves  responsible  for  a  large  grain  crop.  In  Kansas,  the  women 
farmers,  including  W.  C.  T.  U.  women,  early  organized.  There 
was  a  great  demand   for  women  as  farm  hands.     The  liquor  traffic 

121 


Women    Torch-bearers 


annually  destroyed  enough  grain  and  fruit  to  feed  starving  millions — 
turning  it  into  poison  that  was  corrupting  the  life  of  the  nation. 
The  W.  C.  T.  U.  women  made  known  the  futility  of  this  waste  of  grain 
and  fruit.  Sixty-eight  million,  four-hundred-thousand  bushels  of  grain 
were  used  each  year  in  the  production  of  beer.  Bread  or  beer  was 
the  vital  issue.  The  W.  C.  T.  U.  sought  the  protection  of  soldiers 
and  civilians  and  not  of  beer.  British  brewers  were  well  named  food 
destroyers. 

The  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  president  in  an  appeal  to  the  women  said, 
"We  patriotically  observe  seven  wheatless,  fourteen  meatless,  and 
twenty-one  wasteless  meals  each  week.  We  have  purchased  liberty 
bonds.  We  knit  and  sew,  we  conserve  and  preserve.  We  dry  and  can, 
we  waste  not  a  slice  of  bread  nor  a  grain  of  sugar.  We  eat  war 
bread,  we  follow  the  excellent  advice,  'Use  corn-meal,  common  sense, 
and  calm.'  The  six  million  loaves  of  bread  we  send  to  our  Allies 
are  saved  in  this  way.  Why  do  the  powers  that  be  continue  to  waste 
foodstufFs  daily  in  the  manufacture  of  beer?  The  amount  saved,  if 
breweries  could  be  eliminated,  would  send  to  our  enlisted  men  and 
the  Allies  six  million  loaves  of  bread?"  Foreign-speaking  wives 
and  mothers  appealed  to  the  President  at  Washington  for  aid.  They' 
plead  for  food  for  their  children.  Miss  Jeannette  Rankin,  Congress- 
woman,  advocated  their  cause.  They  said,  "We  don't  know  much  about 
politics,  but  we  know  we  can't  get  food.  If  the  government  wants 
to  take  our  sons  to  be  killed  in  France,  it  must  pass  the  food  bill 
so  we  may  feed  the  children  left  at  home  or  our  young  men  will  go 
to  war  only  over  our  dead  bodies."  An  investigator  visited  fifty 
schools  of  the  east  side  of  New  York  City,  with  an  average  attend- 
ance of  one  thousand,  two-hundred  children,  and  forty-three  principals 
told  her  the  children  were  falling  behind  in  their  lessons  because  they 
were  under-nourished  and  had  as  a  result  become  a  prey  to  disease. 

The  following  memorial  in  favor  of  food  conservation,  which 
was  also  a  vital  factor  in  securing  war  prohibition,  was  addressed  to 
the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  and  signed  and  en- 
dorsed by  6,000,000  women.  The  assembling  of  this  memorial  was 
an  herculean  task — directed  by  Mrs.  Lenna  Lowe  Yost  at  the  Wash- 
ington Legislative  headquarters.     The  memorial  read: 

122 


Patriotism    and    War    Prohibition 

"To  Hon.  Woodrow  Wilson,  President  of  the  United  States : 

"Believing  that  the  women  of  the  United  States  are  loyally  doing 
their  utmost  in  our  national  crisis  to  carry  out  all  government  plans 
for  the  conservation  of  food;  and 

"Realizing  that  there  is  still  an  alarming  waste  of  food  stuffs  in 
the  production  of  malt  and  vinous  liquors ; 

"We,  in  behalf  of  mothers,  wives  and  daughters,  sisters  and  sweet- 
hearts of  enlisted  men,  appeal  to  you,  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
Army  and  Navy,  to  prohibit  the  further  waste  of  these  food-stufEs  in 
the  production  of  malt  and  vinous  liquors  during  the  period  of  the 
war." 

The  document  embossed  on  parchment  in  handsome  book  form  was 
presented  to  President  Wilson  with  the  following  letter  from  the 
National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  the  promoters  of  the  conservation  petition: 

"March   1,   1918 
"National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Headquarters, 

"Washington,  D.  C. 
"Mr.  President: 

"We  deeply  appreciate  the  privilege  of  presenting  to  you  a  memorial 
representing  six  million  women  patriots  of  the  United  States. 

"We  believe  this  is  the  first  petition  in  the  history  of  our  country 
in  which  all  leading  organizations  of  women,  civic,  fraternal,  social, 
patriotic,  and  religiouS;  as  well  as  hundreds  of  notable  women  in  the 
educational  and  official  life  of  the  republic  have  united.  It  comes  to 
you,  Mr.  President,  as  the  voice  of  the  womanhood  of  America.  It 
comes  to  you,  our  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  at  the 
time  of  an  appalling  crisis  which  peculiarly  concerns  the  mothers  of  the 
nation. 

"Educated  by  the  government  to  believe  that  food  will  win  the 
war,  these  women  whose  magnificent  war  service  and  sacrifice  every- 
where are  attested,  plead  for  the  maximum  conservation  of  food 
materials  for  the  duration  of  the  war.  They  earnestly  and  respectfully 
ask  that  all  food  materials  now  used  in  the  production  of  malt  liquors 
be  devoted  to  food  supplies  desperately  needed  by  our  army  and  the 
armies  of  the  Allies. 

"On  behalf  of  these  six  million  petitioners,  Mr.  President,  we  thanJt 
you  for  the  steps  in  this  direction  already  taken,  and  we  beg  your 

123 


Women    Torc  h- b  e  arer  s 


early  and  favorable  consideration  of  the  prayer  of  the  memorial  we  have 
the  honor  to  place  in  your  hands. 

"(Signed)       Anna  A.  Gordon, 
"President  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U." 

White-ribboners  were  keenly  alive  to  the  strategy  of  the  situation. 
While  warring  against  crowned  autocracy  they  also  were  gaining 
ground  in  their  fight  to  annihilate  King  Alcohol.  Their  great  petition  to 
President  Wilson  aroused  favorable  public  opinion.  The  grain  Congress 
said  would  henceforth  be  fed  to  the  men  and  not  to  the  breweries  and 
distilleries.  If  not  wasted  in  time  of  war  why  wasted  and  turned  into 
poison,  in  time  of  peace? 

It  was  the  famous  psychologist,  Professor  William  T.  James,  of 
Harvard  College,  who  said  that  people  seldom  unlocked  their  hidden 
abilities.  At  the  psychological  moment  every  W.  C.  T.  U.  woman  used 
the  key  that  unlocked  all  the  resources  of  her  devoted  motherhood. 
The  boys  must  be  fed!  War  prohibition  must  come!  Mother-love  in 
determined  action  is  irresistible.  White-ribboners  worked  at  white 
heat. 

A  white-ribboner  originated  the  slogan :  "Nail  the  flag  to  your  hoe, 
your  spade,  your  rake,  and  enter  heart  and  soul  into  the  food  grow- 
ing movement."  In  great  patriotic  parades  many  people  were  seen 
carrying  over  their  shoulders  a  hoe  with  the  flag  tied  to  it,  fit  emblem 
surely  of  practical  patriotism.  W.  C.  T.  U.  women  turned  waste 
land,  vacant  lots,  yes,  and  even  back  yards  into  patches  for  cultivation 
of  potatoes  and  other  foodstuffs.  In  one  year,  three  hundred  girls 
enrolled  in  canning  clubs  and  their  net  saving  amounted  to  $38,000. 
Thousands  of  college  girls  spent  their  summer  vacations  on  this  tj^pe 
of  work.  Hundreds  of  cans  of  dehydrated  vegetables,  and  hundreds 
of  packages  containing  jellies,  marmalade  and  grape  juice,  were  sent  to 
the  front.  To  these  were  added,  games,  puzzles,  recent  magazines, 
scrap-books,  song-books  and  home  papers  for  home  troops.  This  was 
the  "woman  touch"  that  kept  up  the  morale  of  the  homesick  bo5's,  for 
hidden  among  the  packages  were  loving  letters  from  mothers,  wives, 
sisters,  and  sweethearts. 

At  harvest  time,  the  popular  slogan  became  "Not  one  ear  of  corn 
for  whisky,  but  millions  for  food  for  the  hungry  men,  women  and 
children  of  America  and  Europe."  William  Jennings  Bryan  asserted: 
"We  cannot  afford  to  allow  $145,000,000  worth  of  grain  to  be  con- 


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Patriotism    and    War    Prohibition 


verted  into  alcohol  when  it  is  needed  for  bread.  To  urge  an  increase 
in  garden  space  and  yet  be  indifferent  to  the  conversion  of  the  products 
of  our  prairies  into  alcohol  would  be  saving  at  the  spigot  and  wasting 
at  the  bunghole."  Rev.  Charles  Stelzle,  field  secretary  of  the  Federal 
Council  of  Churches,  said  that  the  toil  of  75,000  farmers  for  six 
months  was  required  to  furnish  the  grain  used  to  make  the  country's 
liquor.  He  declared  that  the  300,000  persons  in  America  who  serve 
the  liquor  traffic  were  needed  for  the  legitimate  work  of  the  country. 
It  was  declared  authoritatively,  that  Great  Britain  would  not  at  this 
time  (1917)  have  been  facing  a  near  famine  if  in  1914  she  had  prohi- 
bited in  the  manufacture  of  alcoholic  liquors,  the  use  of  grains. 

In  the  interests  of  food  conservation  even  Mother  Goose  was  "Hoov- 
erized" — much,  to  the  delight  of  the  children,  who  as  they  recited 
the  following  lines  awakened  to  patriotic  action  many  carnal-minded 
epicures : 

"Old  King  Cole  was  a  merry  old  soul,  and  a  merry  old 
soul  was  he. 

To  help   conserve   food,   he   dined   as   a   rule   on   corn- 
bread  and  milk,  don't  you  see?" 

"Mary,   Mary,    quite   contrary,   how   does   your   garden 
grow  ? 

Beans  and  peas  and  spinach,  too,  with  canned  goods  all 
in  a  row." 

The  intensity  and  anxiety  of  these  war-beclouded  days  were  re- 
lieved by  the  buoyancy  and  loyalty  of  the  young  people  and  the  boys 
and  girls  of  the  Loyal  Temperance  Legion.  As,  on  public  occasions, 
they  gave  the  salute  to  their  nation's  flag  each  one  earnestly  said: 
"I  pledge  allegiance  to  my  flag  and  to  the  republic  for  which  it  stands, 
one  nation  indivisible,  with  liberty  and  justice  for  all." 

Eager  to  express  their  youthful  patriotism  children  repeated  in 
concert:  "It's  your  flag  and  my  flag,  and  oh,  how  much  it  holds, 
your  land  and  my  land,  secure  within  its  folds.  Your  heart  and  my 
heart,  beat  quicker  at  the  sight.  Sun-kissed  and  wind-tossed,  red,  blue 
and  white.  The  one  flag  the  great  flag,  the  flag  for  me  and  you — ■ 
glorified  all  else  beside,  the  red  and  white  and  blue."  Often,  older 
people  as  well  as  children,  gave  another  interpretation  of  the  salute 
to  the  flag  in  which  foreign  speaking  children  joined:     "I   give  my 

125 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


head,  my  heart,  and  this  right  hand  for  God  and  home  and  native 
land.  One  country — one  language — one  God,  to  whom  be  praise  for- 
evermore."  Little  Dorothy,  six  years  old,  was  told  one  day  at  school 
that  she  must  salute  the  flag.  That  noon  she  was  almost  an  hour  late 
in  reaching  home  for  lunch.  "Dorothy,  where  have  you  been,"  said  her 
mother,  as  the  child  came  up  the  front  walk.  "Teacher  said  we  must 
salute  the  flag"  replied  the  small  patriot,  "and  I  have  been  saluting 
them  all  the  way  home,  because  there's  one  on  pretty  nearly  every 
house!"  White-ribbon  women  were  deeply  interested  in  the  service 
flag  whose  blue  and  gold  stars  represented  their  sons  in  the  army  and 
nav}^ — those  living  and  those  who  had  paid  the  supreme  sacrifice.  In 
hundreds  of  homes  this  "child  of  Old  Glory"  was  seen. 

The  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  through  its  president,  Mrs.  Leila  A.  Dil- 
lard,  with  the  help  of  another  white-ribboner,  made  a  notable  service 
flag,  eighteen  feet  long  by  six  feet  wide.  The  stars  represent  sons, 
husbands  and  brothers  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  members.  A  few  of  the 
stars  are  for  nephews,  their  names  being  sent  in  by  mother-aunts,  and 
daughters  who  did  war  work  are  also  represented.  The  design  of  this 
world's  service  flag  is  strikingly  unique  and  beautiful,  for  the  magic 
initials, 'W.  C.  T.  U.,  form  the  background  of  white,  that  is  studded 
with  the  stars  of  blue  and  gold.  In  the  summer  of  1919,  at  Columbus, 
Ohio,  during  the  exhibit  of  the  National  Woman's  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union  at  the  Methodist  Centenary  Exposition,  this  flag  from 
Georgia  revealed  to  the  visitor,  the  patriotism  pervading  all  the  actlvi- 
ies  of  the  white-ribbon  women. 

"Space   is   nothing   to  spirit;   the   deed   is    outdone    by 

the  doing; 

The   noblest   are   reared   by   example   and    blossom   by 

nursery  wooing. 

Back  of  the  foreguard  and  leader  stands  silent,  heroic 

some  other. 

And  colossal  behind  the  achievement  stands  meekly  that 

angel  the  mother." 
In  the  midst  of  their  conservation  work,  American  women  were 
deeply  stirred  by  the  sufferings  of  European  womanhood.  The  National 
Council  of  French  Women,  including  one  hundred  and  fifty  societies; 
the  French  Union  of  Woman  Suffrage  with  eighty  original  groups; 
The   Society   for   the   Improvement  of  Woman's   Lot;   the   Fraternal 


126 


Patriotism    and    War    Prohibition 


Union  of  Women,  representing  more  than  a  million  French  women, 
appealed  to  the  women  of  all  countries  to  unite  with  them  in  denounc- 
ing the  infamous  and  sinister  attack  on  the  common  life  of  humanity 
through  its  womankind.  This  appeal  met  with  a  warm  response  in 
the  heart  of  every  W.  C.  T.  U.  woman,  A  petition  to  the  Peace  Coun- 
cil asking  for  the  punishment  of  men  who  had  violated  the  persons  of 
women  under  their  power  and  asking  that  the  women  so  outraged 
should  be  considered  "wounded  in  war"  was  circulated.  The  national 
vice-president,  Mrs.  Ella  A.  Boole,  earnestly  promoted  by  addresses 
and  correspondence  the  circulation  of  this  petition,  co-operating  with 
the  Committee  of  Protection  of  Women  Under  International  Law. 

For  her  masterly  and  unique  service,  Anna  Howard  Shaw  was  the 
recipient  of  a  governmental  decoration.  Later,  at  a  W.  C.  T.  U.  lunch- 
eon where  she  was  the  guest  of  honor,  she  called  attention  to  the  hand- 
some medal  from  the  government  that  she  was  wearing  and  said  most 
unassumingly,  that  it  was  a  decoration  to  which  every  white  ribboner 
and  every  woman  who  helped  in  the  national  defense  had  equal  claim 
with  herself.  She  told  with  enthusiasm  of  the  loyalty  of  the  women's 
societies  in  following  directions  so  that  duplication,  overlapping,  and 
useless  war  work  were  prevented.  The  hope  shared  with  millions  of 
other  women,  that  she  was  helping  the  war  that  would  end  war,  was 
expressed  in  these  eloquent  words: 

"The  mothers  of  this  country,  the  mothers  of  men,  build  their  own 
lives  into  the  lives  of  their  sons  until  they  reach  manhood — and  how 
much  is  embraced  in  that  word  'manhood!'  The  mother  looking  into 
the  eyes  of  the  young  man  whom  she  held  in  her  arms  as  a  tiny 
helpless  baby,  knows  that  she  beholds  the  most  marvelous  thing  in  all 
the  world;  that  in  all  the  universe  of  God  there  is  nothing  more  won- 
derful than  a  strong-limbed,  clean-hearted,  clear-brained  young  man, 
just  as  he  stands  on  the  border-line  of  life,  and  in  an  hour  his  country 
calls  him  out,  and  in  another  hour  he  may  lie  dead.  When  she  looks 
into  his  face,  that  woman  knows  the  meaning  of  war.  That  is  the 
'bit'  our  country  asks  of  its  women.  A  whole  lifetime  of  service,  of 
love,  and  then  it  is  all  swept  away  from  her,  and  from  him,  and 
yet  they  wonder  that  women  do  not  want  war.  We  do  not  v/ant 
war — we  do  not  want  war — and  the  reason  you  and  I  want  to  sec 
this  war  brought  to  a  finish,  if  it  takes  the  last  man  and  the  last 
loaf  of  bread,  and  the  last  woman  in  order  to  do  it,  is  because  we 

127 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


hope  after  it  is  done  there  will  be  no  more  war.  The  men  have  laid 
down  their  lives  that  this  world  may  be  a  safe  place  and  that  men 
and  women  may  know  the  meaning  of  democracy,  which  is  that  we 
are  one  great  family  of  God.  That,  and  that  only,  is  the  ideal  of 
democracy  for  which  our  flag  stands." 

In  closing  her  address,  Dr.  Shaw  gave  this  message  sent  her  by 
General  Pershing — a  message  expressing  appreciation  of  American 
women  and  their  loyalty:  "All  ranks  of  the  American  Expeditionary 
Forces  unite  in  heartfelt  thanks  to  the  women  of  America  for  their 
love  and  their  prayers.  The  patriotism  of  our  incomparable  women, 
than  whom  there  are  not  others  more  noble,  shall  be  our  constant 
inspiration  until  the  great  capital  task  which  has  been  entrusted  to 
us  shall  be  accomplished.  Accept  our  best  wishes  for  the  coming  year 
and  our  firm  confidence  in  our  final  success." 

In  1889,  Hon.  John  D.  Long,  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  wisely 
took  alcoholic  drink  away  from  the  enlisted  men.  In  1917,  Hon. 
Josephus  Daniels,  then  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  prohibited  the  use 
of  alcoholic  liquor  by  officers  of  the  navy,  thus  making  that  depart- 
ment of  the  government  bone  dry.  In  an  interview,  Secretary  Daniels 
being  asked  to  give  his  reasons  for  the  issuance  of  the  famous  "Wine 
Mess  Order,"  said : 

"Shortly  after  I  had  become  Secretary,  a  gentleman  came  into 
the  department  to  plead  for  the  restoration  of  a  young  relative  of 
his  who  had  been  dismissed  from  the  navy  for  intoxication.  I  showed 
him  the  record  which  proved  that  this  young  officer  had  not  only  been 
drunk,  but  had  at  the  same  time  made  a  public  exhibition  of  himself. 
I  explained  that  there  was  no  course  to  be  pursued  but  to  act  firmly 
and  finally  in  approving  the  court-martial  which  had  recommended 
the  young  officer's  dismissal.  When  I  made  it  plain  that  the  young 
man  must  inevitably  pay  the  penalty,  this  gentleman  protested  earnestly 
and  with  much  feeling,  insisted  that  his  young  relative  had  received 
injustice  at  the  hands  of  the  navy.  'Now  that  he  is  the  product  of 
your  system,'  said  my  visitor,  'you  have  turned  him  out  in  disgrace.' 
He  then  went  on  to  tell  me  the  following  story.  'I  am  a  Friend,  a 
Quaker,'  he  said,  'and  the  boy's  father  was  a  Quaker.  When  his  father 
died,  he  was  a  little  shaver  and  the  lad  came  into  my  home  and 
always  has  been  to  me  as  a  son.  I  never  even  had  so  much  as  a 
glass  of  wine  in  my  home  and  when  the  boy  left  for  Annapolis  to 

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Patriotism    and    War    Prohibition 

enter  the  Naval  Academy,  he  did  not  know  what  the  taste  of  liquor 
was  like.  I  gave  him  to  the  American  navy  pure-hearted,  unsullied, 
believing  absolutely  in  the  old-fashioned  Quaker  ideals  in  which  he 
had  been  reared.  In  the  seven  years  you  have  had  him  in  the  navy, 
you  gave  him  wrong  ideas  about  drinking.  You  taught  him  that 
it  was  all  right  for  a  gentleman  to  have  his  toddy.  You  legalized 
the  "wine  mess."  You  had  a  code  that  made  a  youth  feel  that  he  was 
narrow  minded  if  he  turned  down  his  glass  at  the  table,  but  now 
that  my  boy  has  been  ruined  by  you  and  your  system,  the  navy  kicks 
him  out  and  puts  a  stigma  on  him.'  " 

Secretary  Daniels,  in  continuing  his  story,  said:  "When  this  sor- 
rowful man  went  out,  I  could  not  throw  of?  a  stinging  sense  of  justice 
in  his  accusation.  I  realized  that  the  issuing  of  a  'wine  mess  order' 
meant  that  it  would  be  resented.  If  I  was  at  any  time  tempted  not 
to  take  the  step,  the  reflection  that  every  year  there  came  into  the 
navy  hundreds  of  young  men,  some  of  whom  might  find  their  undoing 
in  indulgence,  made  my  duty  plain.  However,  as  the  days  went  by, 
after  the  action  was  taken,  the  order  increasingly  won  over  the  ap- 
proval of  the  officers  themselves.  One  of  the  ablest  admirals  of  tbe 
navy,  a  man  whose  name  is  known  in  naval  circles  all  over  the  world, 
told  me  that  he  had  never  known  such  a  revolution  in  the  navy  as 
had  been  brought  about  by  the  wine  mess  order.  'On  the  very  day 
that  you  issued  the  order,'  he  said,  'I  had  stocked  up  my  closet  with 
the  usual  wines  and  liquors  as  was  customary  to  be  used  when  I 
entertained  guests  on  board  ship.  I  did  not,  therefore,  like  the  order, 
but  when  I  first  read  it,  I  immediately  called  the  steward  and  told 
him  to  pack  all  drinkables  up  and  remove  them  from  the  ship.  To 
me  an  order  is  an  order.  In  my  long  service,  whether  I  liked  it  or 
not,  my  loyalty  to  lawful  commands  has  never  failed.  My  own  opinion 
is  that  the  wine  mess  order  is  the  wisest  thing  you  have  done  as 
Secretary.'  The  statement  of  this  admiral  is  typical  of  the  opinion 
of  the  vast  majority  of  the  commissioned  personnel  of  the  navy." 

In  1917,  for  the  first  time  in  its  history,  Harvard  University  gave 
its  graduates  and  undergraduates  a  commencement  week  free  from 
the  use  of  champagne  and  cock-tails.  This  patriotic  act  made  strong 
sentiment  for  the  protection  of  the  boys  in  camp.  Other  colleges 
took  similar  action. 

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Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


After  the  armistice,  November  11,  1918,  a  million  men  in  uniform 
returned  from  overseas  to  resume  the  duties  of  civilian  life.  They 
had  been  protected  from  drink  in  the  camps  and  at  the  front.  The 
duty  and  problem  that  confronted  the  nation  w^as  the  adequate  pro- 
tection of  these  brave  men  from  the  enemies  at  home.  The  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.,  as  one  of  its  after-war  relief  measures,  adopted  whole- 
heartedly a  new  "God-child",  the  Fort  Sheridan  Reconstruction  Hos- 
pital. The  wounded  had  started  to  come  home,  some  with  bodies 
badly  broken.  Five  thousand  of  these  boys  were  to  be  cared  for,  re- 
educated if  need  be,  at  this  great  hospital.  The  commanding  ofKcer 
warmly  welcomed  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  hospital  mother,  Mrs.  Louise 
Chez.  Several  states  made  liberal  contributions  to  the  Fort  Sheridan 
Hospital  fund.  The  Young  People's  Branch  assumed  responsibility 
for  "cheer-up"  books  for  blinded  soldiers  and  sailors.  The  Loyal 
Temperance  Legion  raised  a  fund  to  print  in  Braille  a  beautiful  story 
carrying  the  children's  message  of  good-cheer,  to  soldiers,  sailors  and 
marines  who  had  lost  their  sight.  Relief  work  under  the  Flower 
Mission  department,  for  families  of  soldiers  and  sailors,  continued  as 
long  as  necessity  demanded.  The  Iowa  W.  C.  T.  U.  adopted  as  one 
of  its  special  benevolences  the  United  States  Army  reconstruction 
hospitals  at  Fort  Des  Moines  with  a  capacity  of  three  thousand  five 
hundred  beds,  with  Mrs.  Dessa  Carleton  as  the  hospital  mother.  The 
"boys"  were  greatly  comforted  by  these  sympathetic,  gracious  women. 

Of  the  100,000,000  bushels  of  grain  which  each  year  had  been 
turned  into  alcoholic  liquors,  a  large  proportion  now  provided  neces- 
sary food.  A  number  of  distilleries  continued  making  alcohol  to  find 
its  way  into  perfumes,  toilet  water,  bay  rum  and  medicine  and  in- 
dustries where  denatured  alcohol  is  used.  Revenue  records  state  that 
during  that  fiscal  year  (1917-1918)  nearly  11,000,000  gallons  were 
shipped  to  Allies  for  powder  manufacture. 

The  extraordinary  work  of  the  allied  temperance  philanthropic 
organizations  brought  victory  after  victory.  The  Sixty-fifth  Congress 
prohibited  the  use  after  September  8,  1917,  of  food-products  in  the 
manufacture  for  beverage  purposes  of  distilled  spirits.  July  1,  1919, 
under  the  provisions  of  the  war  prohibition  bill  enacted  by  the  Sixty- 
fifth  Congress  and  sustained  by  the  Sixty-sixth,  in  special  session,  the 
Federal  government  prohibited  for  the  period  of  the  war  and  of  de- 
mobilization,  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  alcoholic  liquors.     It  will 


130 


Patriotism    and    War    Prohibition 

be  recalled  that  on  November  1,  1917,  the  capital  city  of  our  great 
country  became  dry.  The  long  desired  goal — National  Constitutional 
Prohibition — was  now  almost  in  sight. 

One  of  the  greatest  upheavals  of  the  war  was  the  revolt  against 
alcohol.  The  value  of  sobriety  in  the  army,  navy,  and  in  aviation, 
had  been  effectively  demonstrated. 

Throughout  the  war  "Co-operation"  had  been  the  key-note  of  action, 
but  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  while  co-operating,  did  its  own  work 
in  its  own  way;  and  all  its  patriotic  funds  passed  through  the  hands 
of  the  able  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  treasurer,  Mrs.  Margaret  C.  Munns. 
Harry  S.  Warner,  executive  secretary  of  this  United  Committee  on 
War  Temperance  Activities  in  the  Army  and  Navy,  later  said,  "The 
W.  C.  T.  U.  is  largely  responsible  for  the  splendid  work  accomplished." 
The  following  facts  and  figures  prepared  at  National  W.  C.  T.  U. 
headquarters  summarize  the  magnificent  patriotic  work  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  accomplished : 

Sent  to  the  President  at  Washington,  D.  C,  petition  of  6,000,000 
women  for  war-time  prohibition  as  a  conservation  measure. 

Participated  in  forty-five  successful  campaigns  for  ratification  of 
the  Eighteenth  Amendment. 

Enrolled  ninety  per  cent  of  the  half  million  members  in  the  Red 
Cross  society;  seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  half  million  members  were 
workers  in  Red  Cross  shops. 

Prepared  hundreds  of  thousands  of  special  comforts  for  men  in 
service  outside  the  Red  Cross.  Contributed  to  the  Red  Cross  for 
field  kitchens,  $41,573;  for  ambulances,  $13,600. 

Prepared  comfort  bags,  at  the  estimated  cost  of  $176,585. 

Furnished  through  the  United  Committee  on  War  Temperance  Ac- 
tivities in  army  and  navy,  stereomotorgraphs,  at  the  cost  of  $9,430. 
Contributed  for  hospital  tables,  electric  fans,  grafanolas,  $3,779. 

Co'Operated  in  every  camp  community,  in  war-camp  community  ser- 
vice. 

Established   and  maintained  hostess  houses,  recreation  centers  and 
rest-rooms   from   Camp   Devens,   Massachusetts,   to   Camp    Las   Casas, 
Porto  Rico — from  Camp  Lewis,  Washington,  to  Camp  Lee,  Virginia. 
Extended  service  of  women  police  officers  to  camp  communities. 

131 


Women    Torc  h- b  barer  s 


Introduced  the  hospital  mother  as  a  new  welfare  worker  in  re- 
construction hospitals.  Maintained  resident  hospital  mother  at  Gen- 
eral Hospital  No.  28,  Fort  Sheridan,  Illinois. 

Contributed  hospital  furnishings  and  equipment  valued  at  $5,911. 

Contributed,  through  the  Young  People's  Branch,  cheer-up  books 
for  use  of  permanently  blind  soldiers,  sailors  and  marines  at  Evergreen 
Hospital,  Baltimore,  Maryland,  valued  at  $1,523. 

Contributed  diet  kitchen  for  Evergreen  Hospital,  $3,500. 

Subscribed  for  Victory  Bonds  and  Liberty  loans. 

Adopted  2800  French  orphans. 

Contributed  to  Armenian,  Serbian,  Belgian  and  other  relief  funds, 
$25,774. 

According  to  James  Russell  Lowell,  democracy  in  its  best  sense 
is  merely  the  "letting  in  of  light  and  air."  In  the  hope  of  helping 
to  secure  a  Christian  democracy  such  as  Mr.  Lowell  so  well  de- 
scribed, the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  carried  on  its  extraordinary  war 
activities.  The  exalted  spirit  of  the  organization  which,  from  earliest 
days,  had  declared  for  "the  establishment  of  courts  of  national  and 
international  arbitration  which  should  banish  war  from  the  world," 
is  seen  in  this  resolution  passed  at  the  forty-fourth  annual  W.  C.  T.  U. 
convention  which  assembled  during  war-time,  December  2-7,  1917,  in 
the  capital  city.  It  reads:  "While  we  deplore  war  as  wholly  evil  in 
its  inception,  we  yet  believe  that  when  it  became  necessary  for  our 
nation  to  enter  the  present  world  conflict  we  came  in  on  this  high 
moral  ground,  namely:  To  vindicate  the  principles  of  peace  and  justice 
in  the  life  of  the  world  as  against  selfish  and  autocratic  power  and 
to  set  up  among  the  really  free  and  self-governed  people  of  the  world 
such  a  concert  of  purposes  and  action  as  shall  bring  peace  and  safety 
to  all  nations  and  make  the  world  itself  at  last  free." 

The  W.  C.  T.  U.  women  were  now  cheerfully  meeting  the  second 
test  of  patriotism — the  practice  of  severe  economies  in  the  reconstruc- 
tion days.  "During  the  coming  years,"  said  the  national  president,  in 
1918,  "as  we  traverse  the  road  to  the  victory  of  National  Constitu- 
tional Prohibition,  let  us  heed  the  words  of  a  seer  given  to  Israel 
of  old.  'They  march  everyone  on  his  way,  and  they  break  not  their 
ranks'  '* 


132 


CHAPTER  VII       . 
The  Eighteenth  Amendment  ;  Allegiance  to  the  Constitution 

The  passage  of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment  to  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  January  16,  1919,  was  one  of  the  greatest  moral 
triumphs  of  history. 

It  was  a  twentieth  century  Declaration  of  Independence,  and 
assured  to  the  one  hundred  and  twenty  five  million  men,  women  and 
children  of  this  mighty  Republic  the  guarantees  of  the  United  States 
Constitution,  "life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness."  In  cele- 
bration of  this  patriotic  event,  a  United  States  flag  was  raised  over 
a  worsted  mill.  It  was  made  of  wool  from  American  sheep,  sorted 
by  an  American,  carded  by  an  Italian,  spun  by  a  Swede,  warped  by 
a  German,  dressed  by  an  Englishman,  drawn  in  by  a  Scotchman, 
woven  by  a  Belgian,  supervised  by  a  Frenchman,  inspected  by  an 
American,  scoured  by  an  Albanian,  dyed  by  a  Turk,  examined  by  an 
Irishman,  pressed  by  a  Pole;  and  these  loyal  workers  of  foreign  birth 
were  all  Americans  and  sang  in  unison,  "My  country  'tis  of  thee, 
sweet  land  of  liberty,  of  thee  I  sing."  This  victory  of  Federal  pro- 
hibition, this  moral  mountain  peak,  viewed  by  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth,  is  destined  to  make  not  only  in  honored  law,  but  in  living  reality, 
a  sober  nation  and  a  sober  world. 

It  is  a  wonderful  story — the  intensive  campaign  of  the  National 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  for  National  Constitutional 
Prohibition,  and  for  the  steady  growth  of  prohibition  areas — state, 
county  and  municipal,  throughout  the  entire  republic. 

The  list  of  the  prohibition  states  and  territories  and  the  dates  ot 
their  prohibition  enactments  is  as  follows: 

Maine  (Constitutional)   ....1851  Arizona    (Constitutional)    ..1915 

Kansas  (Constitutional)  ....  1880      Virginia  (Statutory)    1916 

N.  Dakota  (Constitutional)   1889  Colorado    (Constitutional)    .1916 

Oklahoma    (Constitutional)    1907  Oregon  (Constitutional)    ...1916 

Georgia  (Statutory) 1908  Washington    (Statutory)     .  .1916 

N.  Carolina  (Statutory) 1909      Arkansas  (Statutory)   1916 

Mississippi   (Statutory) 1909      Iowa  (Statutory) 1916 

Tennessee   (Statutory)    ..  ..1909  Idaho   (Constitutional)    ....1916 

W.Virginia  (Constitutional)  1914  South  Carolina  (Statutory)    1916 

Alabama  (Statutory)    1915  Nebraska    (Constitutional) .  .  1917 

133 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


S.Dakota   (Constitutional)    1917  Utah    (Constitutional)    1919 

Dist.  Columbia   (Statutory)    1917  Ohio    (Constitutional)     1919 

Alaska  (Statutory) 1918  Nevada    (Statutory)    1919 

Indiana    (Statutory)    1918  Wyoming  (Constitutional)  .  .  1920 

Michigan    (Constitutional)     1918  Kentucky    (Constitutional)     1920 

New  Hampshire  (Statutory)  1918  Porto  Rico    1918 

Montana    (Constitutional)     1918  Canal  2k)ne 

N.  Mexico   (Constitutional)  1918  Island  of  Guam  1918 

Texas  (Constitutional) 1919  Territory  of  Hawaii 1918 

Florida    (Constitutional)  ...  1919  Virgin  Islands 1919 

In  the  remaining  fifteen  states  much  territory  had  been  won  tor 
prohibition  through  county  or  local  option  elections. 

The  temperance  and  church  allies  have  remarked  frequently  and 
emphatically  that  the  systematic  work  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  especially 
the  laws  the  organization  secured  regarding  the  teaching  of  scientific 
temperance  in  the  public  schools,  laid  the  changeless  foundation  on 
which  this  phenomenal  Federal  victory  was  built.  In  co-operation  with 
the  allies,  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  which  in  1875  began  its  National  Con- 
stitutional Prohibition  campaign,  followed  the  "gleam"  which  now 
brightened  their  prohibition  pathway.  What  were  the  steps  so  brave- 
ly taken?  , 

On  September  10,  1911,  Mrs.  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens,  then  the 
revered  president  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  issued  this  procla- 
mation: "In  the  name  of  the  World's  and  National  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union,  we  hereby  make  this  proclamation  for  a  great 
crusade  to  carry  the  vital  truth  to  the  people  themselves  in  all  lands, 
and  through  them  to  place  prohibition  in  the  organic  law  of  all  nations 
and  ultimately  in  the  organic  law  of  the  world ;  and  to  this  high  end 
we  invoke  the  guidance  and  blessing  of  Almighty  God  and  the  co- 
operation of  men  and  women  of  all  lands  who  love  their  fellow  men, 
and  to  America,  the  birthplace  of  the  local,  state.  National,  and 
World's  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  we  hereby  proclaim 
that  within  a  decade  prohibition  shall  be  placed  in  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States;  and  to  this  end  we  call  to  active  co-operation  all 
temperance,  prohibition,  religious  and  philanthropic  bodies ;  all  patriotic, 
fraternal  and  civic  associations,  and  all  Americans  who  love  their 
country." 

134 


The  Eighteenth  Amendment 

In  December  of  the  same  year,  Congressman  Richmond  Pearson 
Hobson  of  Alabama,  introduced  into  the  Sixty-third  Congress,  a  reso- 
lution providing  for  a  referendum  to  the  states  on  the  question  of 
a  prohibition  amendment  to  the  United  States  Constitution.  In  the 
Senate,  the  measure  was  ably  championed  by  Senator  Morris  Sheppard 
of  Texas.  Mammoth  mass  meetings  held  in  Washington,  D.  C, 
by  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  and  other  temperance  organizations,  stirred  the 
entire  nation.  "On  to  Washington"  was  the  cry.  In  1914,  soon 
after  Mrs.  Stevens,  the  statesmanlike  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  president, 
had  been  called  to  her  heavenly  reward,  a  hearing  before  the  House 
Judiciary  Committee  occurred  at  Washington,  D.  C.  Anna  Gordon, 
acting  national  president,  went  to  this  hearing  directly  from  Mrs. 
Stevens'  funeral  service  in  Portland,  Maine.  She  was  introduced  by 
Mrs.  Margaret  Dye  Ellis,  and  said  that  she  brought  a  message  written 
by  Mrs.  Stevens'  own  hand.  It  was  a  plea  for  National  Constitutional 
Prohibition — from  one  facing  eternity;  and  was  sent  to  those  who  had 
it  in  their  power  to  bring  to  fruition  this  important  bill.  Miss  Gordon 
read  the  sacred  message: 

''The  movement  for  National  Constitutional  Prohibition  is  meeting 
with  greater  favor  than  I  dared  to  hope  on  that  memorable  evening, 
September  10,  1911,  when  on  behalf  of  the  World's  and  National 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  I  made  the  proclamation — 
and  I  dare  to  hope  almost  everything  for  the  temperance  cause.  I 
know  we  are  to  win.  The  destruction  of  the  liquor  traffic  will  glorify 
God  in  heaven,  and  on  earth  will  hasten  the  establishment  of  the 
kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ." 

Breaking  a  reverent  silence,  the  chairman  of  the  committee  said: 
"The  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  have 
learned  with  profound  regret  of  the  death  of  Mrs.  Stevens,  and  desire 
to  express  to  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  their  sincere  sympathy." 

Who  can  measure  the  impact  on  unawakened  consciences  of  such  an 
"other-worldly"  appeal.  It  had  irresistible  power,  for  it  came  from 
one  who  unselfishly  loved  humanity,  even  unto  death.  On  December 
22,  1914,  the  memorable  day  of  discussion,  Congress  did  not  adjourn 
for  either  the  noon  or  the  evening  meal.  A  thousand  people  sat  through- 
out the  debate.  Across  the  entire  length  of  the  house  over  the  speak- 
er's desk  was  fastened  a  scroll  recording  the  number  of  individuals 
endorsing  the  resolution  and  sent  to  Congress  from  National  W.  C. 

135 


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T.  U.  headquarters.  Every  state  was  represented  upon  this  scroll. 
Nearly  12,000  organizations  and  assemblies  endorsed  the  resolution, 
representing  an  aggregate  of  some  5,000,000  people.  Adding  to  this 
large  number  the  petitioners  whose  names  were  sent  directly  to  mem- 
bers of  Congress,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  10,000,000  American  citizens 
petitioned  on  this  subject — ten  times  as  many  as  ever  petitioned  any 
government  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

A  majority  vote  for  the  bill  was  secured,  but  not  the  necessary 
two-thirds.  The  liquor  forces,  though  they  called  this  "a  big  defeat" 
for  prohibition,  were  alarmed  as  they  knew  that  a  majority  vote  was 
really  a  victory  and  meant  disaster  for  their  trade.  Congressman 
Hobson,  shortly  before  the  vote  was  taken  at  nearly  midnight,  held 
the  respect  of  every  auditor  as  he  made  an  eloquent  speech.  In  this 
challenge  he  stated  that  if  the  vote  soon  to  follow  did  not  submit 
this  question  to  the  states,  in  1916  the  bill  would  again  be  the  paramount 
issue.  In  1915,  at  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention  held  in 
Seattle,  Washington,  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  president  declared: 
"The  fact  that  a  two-thirds  majority  vote  was  not  obtained  at  this, 
the  first  trial  of  National  Constitutional  Prohibition  in  the  United 
States  Congress,  does  not  daunt  us.  The  united  temperance  forces  of 
this  nation  will  patiently  continue  their  righteous  clamor  until  the 
United  States  Congtress  hears  and  heeds  and  haiids  over  to  the 
sovereign  people  of  the  states  of  this  Republic  this  mighty  question, 
which  will  not  be  settled  until  it  is  settled  right. 

"The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  has  declared  that  no 
one  has  an  inherent  right  to  sell  alcoholic  liquors,  and  that  no  legis- 
lature has  the  right  to  bargain  away  the  public  health  and  the  public 
morals.  A  legislature  does  this  when  it  passes  a  license  law.  Local 
option  makes  it  easier  for  the  liquor  men  to  handle  the  situation. 
This  is  why  they  prefer  it  to  a  Federal  prohibition  law.  Across  our 
continent  already  gleams  the  white  way  of  prohibition.  Good  roads 
are  the  order  of  the  day.  We  have  a  Lincoln  highway  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  Let  the  allied  temperance  forces  complete  a 
trans-continental  highway  from  Washington  to  Washington;  a  hlgn- 
way  in  which  the  wayfaring  man  shall  not  err;  a  highway  safe  for 
the  feet  of  little  children ;  a  good  road  of  prohibition  named  in  honor 
of  the  father  of  our  country — the  Washington  prohibition  highway." 

National    Constitutional    Prohibition   brought   its   own   spectacular 

136 


The  Eighteenth  Amendment 


and  moral  appeal  to  the  boys  and  girls.  As  National  Prohibition 
Guards  they  rallied  to  the  defense  of  the  home  with  Miss  Mary  B. 
Ervin,  national  general  secretary,  as  their  enthusiastic  leader. 

Under  the  supervision  of  Mrs.  Stella  B.  Irvine,  national  super- 
intendent of  the  Sunday  School  department,  an  immense  petition,  na- 
tional in  character,  and  signed  by  Sunday  School  scholars  of  all  grades 
w^as  sent  to  Congress.  It  read:  "We  the  undersigned  young  people, 
members  of  the  Sunday  Schools  of  the  various  states,  are  trying  to  fit 
ourselves  for  the  duties  of  citizenship.  There  is  prevailing  in  our 
nation  a  deadly  disease — alcoholism — and  against  its  ravages  we  have 
no  adequate  protection.  We  appeal  to  you  to  eradicate  the  cause  of 
this  disease  to  make  it  unlawful  for  anyone  to  sell  or  traffic  in  any 
manner  in  alcoholic  liquors  for  beverage  purposes.  We  appeal  to  you 
for  the  opportunity  to  grow  up  in  an  atmosphere  free  from  this 
pestilence.  As  the  future  citizens  of  this  United  States  we  earnestly 
plead  for  National  Constitutional  Prohibition." 

During  the  session  of  the  Sixty-fourth  Congress,  a  prohibition  reso- 
lution similar  to  the  one  sponsored  by  Congressman  Hobson,  was  in- 
troduced in  the  House  by  Edwin  Y.  Webb  of  North  Carolina;  and 
in  the  Senate  by  Morris  Sheppard  of  Texas.  It  was  favorably  re- 
ported but  not  brought  to  a  vote. 

In  her  Washington  Letter,  a  popular  feature  of  the  weekly  Union 
Signal,  Margaret  Dye  Ellis  tells  the  dramatic  story  of  the  Day  of 
Decision  in  the  Sixt3'-fifth  Congress — December  17,  1917.  She  wrote: 
"The  victory  is  ours.  Praise  be  to  God! — The  greatest  day  in  the 
history  of  the  temperance  reform  has  come  and  gone.  The  referendum 
bill  for  National  Constitutional  Prohibition  has  passed  the  House  of 
Representatives  by  a  vote  of  two-hundred  and  eighty-two  in  favor  to 
one-hundred  and  twenty-eight  against,  and  the  Senate  concurred  in 
this  the  following  day  by  a  vote  of  forty-seven  to  eight.  Monday, 
December  17,  1917,  had  been  set  apart  as  the  day  when  the  House 
would  take  final  action  on  the  measure.  This  body  convened  at 
eleven  o'clock,  the  doors  being  opened  at  ten  o'clock.  A  large  group 
of  white  ribboners  stood  for  half  an  hour  awaiting  entrance.  In  this 
company  were  the  president  and  the  entire  official  staff  of  the  National 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  it  being  the  first  time  the 
general  officers  had  all  been  in  the  Capitol  building  together.  As  we 
waited,  some  of  us  quietly  repeated  that  beautiful  psalm,   beginning 

137 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


'I  will  lift  up  mine  eyes  unto  the  hills,  from  whence  cometh  my  help.' 
The  great  galleries  filled  as  soon  as  the  doors  were  opened,  and  all 
day,  until  six  in  the  afternoon,  that  great  'crowd  of  witnesses'  sat 
almost  motionless.  The  members  of  the  House  came  in  leisurely;  and 
just  before  the  hands  of  the  clock  reached  eleven,  Speaker  Champ 
Clark,  with  smiling  face  and  wearing  the  customary  carnation  pinned 
to  his  coat,  ascended  the  steps  of  the  rostrum  and,  with  a  sharp  rap 
of  his  gavel,  called  the  House  to  order.  The  blind  chaplain,  Rev. 
Dr.  Couden,  offered  a  fervent  prayer. 

"Congressman  Webb,  standing  in  front  of  the  Speaker's  desk, 
opened  the  discussion  by  exhibiting  a  poster  bearing  the  sentiment  of 
a  number  of  leaders  of  labor  organizations,  commending  and  endorsing 
prohibition.  It  was  a  reply  to  Samuel  Gompers'  statement  that  a 
majority  of  the  leaders  of  labor  were  opposed  to  the  proposed  amend- 
ment. About  fifty  speeches,  pro  and  con,  were  made  during  the  day. 
As  five  o'clock,  the  hour  set  for  the  vote,  drew  near,  the  interest,  if 
possible,  grew  more  intense.  Three  amendments  were  offered  which 
were  overwhelmingly  voted  down,  and  at  five  minutes  past  five  the 
roll-call  began.  Silence  prevailed  as  this  historic  roll-call  proceeded 
and  the  ayes  and  noes  responded.  This  was  the  culmination  of  a 
struggle  that  has  been  fought  over  and  over  for  so  many  years.  Tally- 
sheets  were  in  the  hands  of  scores  of  people,  and  as  the  ayes  began 
to  gain,  there  was  a  rustling  of  leaves  and  an  atmosphere  of  ex- 
pectancy. 

"Not  until  the  speaker  announced  the  result,  two-hundred  and 
eighty-two  in  favor  to  one-hundred  and  twenty-eight  against,  were 
the  friends  of  the  measure  absolutely  sure  we  had  won  the  great  vic- 
tory. Then  the  floodgates  of  enthusiasm  burst  forth.  Even  though 
the  Speaker  had  twice  warned  the  galleries,  'to  refrain  from  any 
demonstration,'  it  was  impossible  to  stop  them  for  both  floors  and 
galleries  evidenced  their  delight.  It  was  noticeable  that  those  who 
had  opposed  the  referendum  hurried  away,  evidently  greatly  surprised 
at  the  results.  Ex-Speaker  Cannon,  who  had  not  responded  to  his 
name  when  called  by  the  clerk,  rose  just  before  the  vote  was  an- 
nounced and  asked  that  his  name  be  called  again.  This  was  done, 
Mr.  Cannon  responding  '"aye"  most  heartily.  The  national  president 
with  the  national  official  staff,  waited  upon  Mr.  Webb  to  congratulate 
and  thank  him,  in  behalf  of  thousands  of  white-ribboners. 

138 


The  Eighteenth  Amendment 


"During  his  address  in  the  House,  Mr.  Webb  read  a  letter  from 
the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  president,  which  appears  in  full  in  tne 
Congressional  Record  of  Monday,  December  17,  1917.  It  is  a  con- 
cise resume  of  the  work  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U,  in  its  efforts  to  secure 
a  Federal  prohibition  amendment.  Addressed  to  Congressman  Webb, 
it  reads:  'It  is  an  honor  to  present  to  you,  and  through  you,  to  the 
House  of  Representatives,  the  appeal  of  five-hundred-thousand  members 
of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  praying  for  the  passage 
of  the  joint  resolution  providing  for  a  referendum  to  the  states  on 
National  Constitutional  Prohibition.  This  appeal  comes  from  a  host 
of  home-loving  women  who,  with  untiring  energy  and  unstinted  de- 
votion, have  wrought  marvelously  for  the  moral  and  spiritual  ad- 
vancement of  our  country.  This  appeal  comes  from  half  a  million 
patriots  who  answered  promptly  the  call  to  the  colors.  The  nobility 
of  woman's  sacrifice,  the  fine  quality  of  her  patriotic  service,  her  keen 
discernment  in  the  adjustment  of  industrial  conditions  for  women  and 
children,  her  tender  ministrations  at  home  and  on  the  battlefield  should 
entitle  her  to  the  granting  by  the  Congress  of  this  appeal. 

"  'In  addition  to  the  petition  of  women  members  of  the  National 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  I  beg  to  present  a  huge  peti- 
tion of  the  endorsers  of  the  Joint  Resolution  for  a  referendum  to  the 
states  on  National  Constitutional  Prohibition,  secured  through  the  ef- 
forts of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  and  representing 
eight  million  men  and  women  of  our  Republic.  Adding  to  these  the 
petitions  sent  directly  to  members  of  Congress  it  is  safe  to  say  that  our 
appeal  is  backed  by  more  than  eleven  million  people.  If  these  peti- 
tioners could  be  massed  in  solid  phalanx  in  our  Capital  City  you  would 
see  more  than  thirty  times  the  population  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

"  'Unquestionably  it  is  an  appeal  for  an  act  of  true  democracy,  an 
appeal  for  a  patriotic  economic  measure.  Autocracy  and  alcohol  must 
be  overthrown.  'Speed  up'  is  the  urgent  cry  echoing  back  to  us  from 
the  awful  battle  fronts  of  Europe.  'Speed  up'  on  prohibition  legisla- 
tion is  the  respectful  appeal  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  We  pray  that  in  this 
crucial  time  of  a  stupendous  world  crisis  the  House  of  Representatives 
will  rise  to  this  exalted  opportunity  and  give  to  the  legislatures  of  the 
various  states  the  chance  to  deal  with  a  question  so  enorm.ously  vital 
to  the  economic  and  moral  interests  of  our  republic.     When  the  war 

139 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


is  over  and  a  righteous  peace  has  been  secured,  only  the  clear  brain  of 
a  sober  nation  can  be  entrusted  with  the  solution  of  the  mighty  prob- 
lems that  will  then  confront  the  greatest  democracy  on  earth — the 
United  States  of  America.' 

"The  House  resolution  gave  the  states  seven  years  in  which  to  act; 
the  Senate  resolution  passed  August  1,  1917,  by  a  vote  of  sixty-five  to 
twenty,  gave  the  states  six  years  to  act;  hence  the  need  of  ratification 
by  the  Senate  of  the  House  resolution.  This  was  done  on  Tuesday, 
December  18,  without  the  formality  of  a  roll-call,  but  by  a  rising  vote, 
forty-seven  to  eight.  Having  received  a  two-thirds  vote  in  both  Houses, 
the  resolution  does  not  require  the  approval  of  the  President.  Ratifi- 
cation requires  the  approval  of  three-fourths  of  the  states  of  the  Union, 
thus  removing  the  struggle  from  the  Congress  to  the  state  legislatures. 
It  will  mean  hard,  persistent  work  to  bring  the  states  up  to  the  required 
standard.  The  liquor  hierarchy  knows  it  means  the  death-knell  of 
their  trade  if  the  necessary  thirty-six  states  ratify  this  resolution,  so 
we  call  to  our  never  failing,  always  ready  constituency.  'Prepare  for 
the  battle.'  Money  without  stint  will  be  used  by  the  liquor  power  to 
prevent  the  election  to  the  legislatures  of  men  favorable  to  the  amend- 
ment. We  have  many  good  men  in  every  state  and  they  are  the  ones 
to  fill  our  legislative  hall.  I  hail  you  comrades  of  long  hard  years — 
let  us  still  press  on  to  complete  victory." 

It  is  significant  that  the  Crusade  Psalm  opens  and  closes  with  a 
song  of  praise.  Throughout  the  fifty  years  of  W.  C.  T.  U.  pilgrimage 
toward  the  mountain  height  of  Federal  prohibition,  W.  C.  T.  U.  hymn- 
ology  contains  a  victory  note  clearly  sounding.  An  early  song  leader 
in  the  National  W.  C,  T.  U.  conventions,  Mrs.  Alice  Osborne  Harris 
of  Boston,  gave  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  a  "Victory"  paean  set  to  a  Swiss 
mountain  melody.  "Victory"  with  cornet  accompaniment  became  an 
instant  favorite — later  adapted  by  Mrs.  Frances  W.  Graham  to  proph- 
esy the  coming  of  a  national  prohibition  victory.  After  the  passage 
of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment,  Mrs.  Graham  again  adapted  the  song 
to  prophesy  a  world  prohibition  victory.  "Victory"  has  been  the  mus- 
ical peak  of  each  annual  convention,  inspiring  thousands  of  earnest  toil- 
ers with  the  conviction  that  "prohibition  will  come,  surely  come." 
Often  the  cornet  obbligato  has  been  played  on  the  "golden"  cornet  given 
to  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  by  Mrs.  F.  A.  Bent  of  Maine,  who  was 

140 


The  Eighteenth  Amendment 

wont  to  call  it  "Maine's  prohibition  bugle."     In  late  years,  Miss  Rose 
Bower  of  South  Dakota  has  served  as  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  cornetist. 

THE  TEXT  OF 

THE  EIGHTEENTH  AMENDMENT  TO  THE 

FEDERAL  CONSTITUTION 

"Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled  (two-thirds  of  each 
House  concurring  therein)  :  That  the  following  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  be  and  hereby  Is,  proposed  to  the  States,  to  become  valid 
as  a  part  of  the  Constitution  when  ratified  by  the  legislatures,  of  the 
several  States  as  provided  by  the  Constitution: 

"Section  1.  After  one  year  from  the  ratification  of  this  article 
the  manufacture,  sale,  or  transportation  of  intoxicating  liquors  within, 
the  importation  thereof  into,  or  the  exportation  thereof  from  the 
United  States  and  all  territory  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof  for 
beverage  purposes  is  hereby  prohibited. 

"Section  2.  The  Congress  and  the  several  states  shall  have  concur- 
rent power  to  enforce  this  article  by  appropriate  legislation. 

"Section  3.  This  article  shall  be  inoperative  unless  it  shall  have 
been  ratified  as  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  by  the  legislatures 
of  the  several  States,  as  provided  in  the  Constitution,  within  seven 
years  from  the  date  of  the  submission  hereof  to  the  States  by  the  Con- 
gress." 

The  W.  C.  T.  U.  entered  whole-heartedly  into  the  campaign  for 
the  ratification  of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment.  The  distillers  of  the 
country  put  up  a  two  billion  dollar  fund  in  an  effort  to  defeat  National 
Constitutional  Prohibition.  Their  leading  lawyer,  when  asked  by  a 
journalist  what  he  thought  of  their  chances  for  success  replied,  "I  do 
not  care  to  make  any  comment.  This  prohibition  is  going  through. 
It  is  like  a  great  prairie  fire  sweeping  across  the  country  and  cannot 
be  stopped!" 

Throughout  this  and  previous  exciting  campaigns,  the  flying  of  the 
flag  between  stately  trees  in  front  of  Rest  Cottage  and  the  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.  headquarters,  Evanston,  Illinois,  was  a  notice  to  the 
community  that  the  prohibition  cause  had  achieved  new  triumphs.  On 
one  of  the  trees  from  which  the  flag  was  suspended  was  a  brief  expla- 

141 


Women    Torc  h- b  e  are  r  s 


nation.  Students  of  the  Northwestern  University,  passing,  stopped  to 
read,  and  occasionally  expressed  their  delight  by  a  cheer. 

On  January  29,  1920,  in  Washington,  D.  C,  thirty-six  states — 
three-fourths  of  the  forty-eight  commonwealths — having  ratified  the 
amendment,  the  acting  Secretary  of  State,  Hon.  Frank  L.  Polk,  signed 
the  proclamation  declaring  the  ratification  of  the  Eighteenth  Amend- 
ment to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  It  was  a  great  occa- 
sion. A  group  of  notable  temperance  leaders,  both  men  and  women, 
were  present.  The  pen  first  used  by  Secretary  Polk  was  presented, 
for  the  organization,  to  the  president  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U. 
The  handle  of  the  pen  is  of  shining  silver  and  it  has  written  many 
white-ribbon  letters  to  white-ribbon  women  who  have  given  one  thou- 
sand dollars  each  to  the  Jubilee  Fund. 

The  honor  roll  of  states  that  have  ratified  the  Federal  Prohibition 
Amendment  and  date  of  ratification  is  here  recorded : 

1.  Mississippi,  January  8,  1918. 

2.  Virginia,  January  10,  1918. 

3.  Kentucky,  January  14,  1918. 

4.  South  Carolina,  January  23,  1918. 

5.  North  Dakota,  January  25,  1918. 

6.  Maryland,  February  13,  1918. 

7.  Montana,  February  19,  1918. 

8.  Texas,  March  4,  1918. 

9.  Delaware,  March  18,  1918. 

10.  South  Dakota,  March  20,   1918. 

11.  Massachusetts,  April  2,  1918. 

12.  Arizona,  May  24,  1918. 

13.  Georgia,  June  26,  1918. 

14.  Louisiana,  August  8,  1918. 

15.  Florida,  November  27,  1918. 

16.  Michigan,  January  2,  1919. 

17.  Ohio,  January  7,  1919. 

18.  Oklahoma,  January  7,  1919. 

19.  Maine,  January  8,  1919. 

20.  Idaho,  January  8,  1919. 

21.  West  Virginia,  January  9,  1919. 

22.  Washington,  January  13,  1919. 

23.  Tennessee,  January  13,  1919. 

142 


The    Eighteenth    Amendment 

24.  California,  January  13,  1919. 

25.  Indiana,  January  14,  1919. 

26.  Arkansas,  January  14,  1919. 

27.  Illinois,  January  14,  1919. 

28.  North  Carolina,  January  14,  1919. 

29.  Kansas,  January  14,  1919. 

30.  Alabama,  January  14,  1919. 

31.  Iowa,  January  15,  1919. 

32.  Colorado,  January  15,  1919. 

33.  Oregon,  January  15,  1919. 

34.  New  Hampshire,  January  15,  1919, 

35.  Utah,  January  15,  1919. 

36.  Nebraska,  January  16,  1919. 

37.  Missouri,  January  16,  1919. 

38.  Wyoming,  January  16,  1919. 

39.  Wisconsin,  January  17,  1919. 

40.  Minnesota,  January  17,  1919. 

41.  New  Mexico,  January  20,  1919. 

42.  Nevada,  January  21,  1919. 

43.  Vermont,  January  29,..  1919. 

44.  New  York,  January  29,  1919. 

45.  Pennsylvania,  February  25,  1919. 

46.  New  Jersey,  March  9,  1922. 

There  are  two  states  yet  to  ratify,  Connnecticut  and  Rhode  Island. 
The  Connecticut  legislature  has  adopted  a  state  enforcement  code. 
When  National  Constitutional  Prohibition  became  effective,  one  hundred 
Connecticut  towns  were  under  no-license,  and  sixty-eight  towns  under 
license.  In  1922,  the  legislature  of  Rhode  Island  passed  a  prohibition 
enforcement  act  by  an  overwhelming  majority  in  both  houses. 

With  vivid,  logical  oratory,  Deborah  Knox  Livingston,  in  speak- 
ing of  the  victory  for  prohibition,  said:  ''No  greater  piece  of  con- 
structive legislation  was  ever  added  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  than  that  embodied  in  the  Eighteenth  Amendment.  Perhaps  no 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  was  ever  so  thoroughly  considered,  from 
so  many  angles,  as  was  the  Eighteenth  Amendment.  For  more  than 
half  a  century  the  political,  social,  educational,  and  economic  aspects 
of  prohibition  have  been  discussed  by  the  press,  the  pulpit  and  plat- 
form, as  well  as  by  the  people  themselves.     There  was  no  putting  over 

143 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  are  r  s 


upon  the  people  of  the  United  States  the  law  of  national  prohibition; 
on  the  contrary,  the  people  put  through  the  Constitution  this  great 
and  beneficent  law,  and  because  it  is  an  act  of  the  people  themselves, 
we  believe  it  will  be  a  part  of  the  Constitution  as  long  as  the  govern- 
ment stands. 

"Law  enforcement  is  the  great  political  challenge  of  our  day.  The 
challenge  must  be  met  by  an  enlightened  citizenship !  By  a  revival 
on  the  part  of  its  citizens  of  obedience  to  the  law  and  order  of  our  coun- 
try; by  the  election  to  of^ce  of  men  and  women  who  are  not  afraid 
to  do  their  duty,  irrespective  of  consequences,  whether  or  not  those 
consequences  result  in  their  political  or  social  ostracism.  The  election 
of  such  officers  is  accomplished  only  through  the  combined  efforts  of  all 
clean,  decent,  and  courageous  citizens." 

A  strong  enforcement  code,  the  Volstead  Act,  defining  intoxicating 
liquor  as  a  beverage  containing  more  than  one-half  of  one  per  cent  of 
alcohol  and  providing  enforcement  machinery  was  enacted  by  the  Sixty- 
sixth  Congress  in  special  session.  Many  otherwise  well-informed  peo- 
ple, and  those  in  favor  of  the  return  of  beer  and  wine  think  that  the 
percentage  of  alcohol  in  drink  considered  intoxicating,  was  decided 
by  the  drys.  It  was  the  liquor  people  themselves  who  asked  that  one- 
half  of  one  per  cent  of  alcohol  should  be  classed  as  fermented.  This 
one-half  of  one  per  cent  was  fixed  upon  when  near  beer  began  to  be 
made — before  that,  all  beers  had  been  classed  as  fermented  liquor. 

The  real  reason  for  Congress  adopting  one-half  of  one  per  cent  as 
a  standard  was  because  the  states  that  had  tried  it,  clearly  demonstrated 
that  a  higher  percentage  made  prohibition  enforcement  impossible. 
"While  recognizing  that  there  are  limits  beyond  which  Congress  can- 
not go  in  treating  beverages  as  within  the  power  of  enforcement,"  said 
former  Chief  Justice  White  of  the  Supreme  Court,  "we  think  that 
those  limits  are  not  exceeded  by  the  provisions  of  the  Volstead  Act 
wherein  liquors  containing  one-half  of  one  per  cent  of  alcohol  by  vol- 
ume, and  fit  for  use  for  beverage  purposes,  are  treated  as  within  that 
power." 

At  this  time,  the  beneficial  effects  of  national  prohibition  that  had 
been  in  operation  some  months,  Avere  apparent.  In  spite  of  only 
a  partial  enforcement  the  transformation  was  magical.  When 
later  on  it  became  apparent  to  the  defeated,  but  still  organized, 
liquor  forces,  that  they  could  hope  for  no  legal  support  from  the  Su- 


144 


The    Eighteenth    Ame n dment 

preme  Court  or  any  other  department  of  the  Federal  government, 
they  organized  with  unprecedented  subtlety  and  systematic  strategy, 
a  conscienceless  campaign  of  nefarious  nullification.  These  representa- 
tives of  the  Association  Against  the  Prohibition  Amendment  and  of  the 
Personal  Liberty  League,  sent  out  as  a  rally  slogan — "The  Liberty 
Bell  must  Ring  Again."  The  liberty  bell  of  July  4,  1776,  did  ring 
again  on  January  16,  1919,  and  January  16,  1920 — but,  though  having 
ears  to  hear,  the  nullifiers  heard  it  not.  The  truly  American  liberty- 
loving,  home-loving  and  nation-loving  people  heard  it,  and  on  every 
succeeding  birthday  of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment  they  have  sent 
rejoicing  notes  of  that  pealing  bell  around  the  v^^orld. 

It  v^^as  significant  that  during  the  campaign  the  United  States  Pub- 
lic Health  Service  issued  the  follovi^ing  w^arning  against  alcohol:  'Al- 
cohol, as  ordinarily  taken,  is  not  a  stimulant,  but  a  depressing  drug. 
Your  brain  and  nervous  system  govern  your  body.  Alcohol  not  only 
reduces  the  efficiency  of  a  nation,  but  life  insurance  experience  has 
shown  that  the  death-rate  among  steady  drinkers  supposed  to  be  temper- 
ate— even  within  the  bounds  of  so-called  moderation — is  nearly  double 
that  among  average  people." 

The  Anti-Prohibition  organizations  announced  a  definite  cam- 
paign for  the  following  definite  purposes:  To  get  the  Volstead  Act 
out  of  the  law  and  keep  it  out;  to  work  for  the  repeal  of  the  prohibi- 
tion amendment.  These  organizations  called  for  a  million  members 
— members  who  would  work  for  the  repeal  of  the  Volstead  Law  and 
favor  state's  rights  as  to  prohibition.  Knowing  these  facts,  the  Na- 
tional Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  met  organized  evil  with 
organized  good  and  inaugurated  a  lively  five-year  campaign  for  a  million 
members  who  would  work  for  the  observance,  enforcement  and  reten- 
tion of  the  Volstead  Code  and  the  Eighteenth  Amendment. 

"What  this  country  most  needs  is  a  good  glass  of  beer  for  a  nickel," 
said  the  president  of  the  National  Personal  Liberty  League.  The 
plan  of  this  organization  which  is  aligned  with  the  breweries,  is  to 
arouse  voters  to  obtain  an  amendment  to  the  Volstead  Act  which  will 
permit  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  beer  of  not  less  than  2.75  per  cent 
alcoholic  content.  It  is  well  known  to  the  allied  temperance  forces 
that  three-fourths  of  the  drunkenness  existing  before  the  Eighteenth 
Amendment  went  into  effect,  was  due  to  beer-drinking. 

145 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


As  early  as  1922,  the  Association  Against  the  Prohibition  Amend- 
ment announced  a  new  slogan — "Out  of  the  Dry  Trenches  by  1924." 
From  their  headquarters  in  Washington,  the  Association  sent  out  this 
announcement:  "Beer  and  light  wines  within  two  years  and  possibly 
by  next  summer,"  is  the  promise  held  out  to  the  thirsty  by  the  Asso- 
ciation, which  is  organizing  throughout  the  country  to  carry  the  Con- 
gressional election  for  the  consummation  of  this  program. 

The  W.  C.  T.  U.  believes  that  the  men  who,  today,  are  saying, 
"We  don't  like  the  Eighteenth  Amendment  and  we'll  not  obey  it"  are 
not  fully  civilized,  for  they  have  not  come  to  a  realization  that  the 
only  freedom  that  has  an  enduring  basis  is  one  founded  on  absolute 
loyalty  to  and  observance  of  constituted  law  and  authority.  They  for- 
get that  personal  liberty  ends  where  public  injury  begins.  "The 
Eighteenth  Amendment,"  said  the  late  president,  Warren  G.  Harding, 
"is  the  will  of  America  and  must  be  sustained  by  the  government  and 
public  opinion,  else  contempt  for  the  law  will  undermine  our  very  foun- 
dations. There  is  only  one  position  for  a  public  official  or  a  law-abid- 
ing citizen:  Support  the  Constitution  and  obey  the  laws  as  they  are 
enacted.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  should  command  the 
respect  and  obedience  of  every  American  citizen,  otherwise  our  govern- 
ment cannot  long  endure." 

"The  authority  of  the  law  is  questioned  in  these  days  all  too  much. 
The  binding  obligation  of  obedience  against  personal  desire  is  denied 
in  many  quarters.  If  these  doctrines  prevail,  all  organized  government, 
all  liberty,  all  security  are  at  an  end,"  said  Calvin  Coolidge,  when,  as 
governor  of  Massachusetts,  and  confronted  with  lawless  police  officials 
in  the  capital  city,  he  was  superbly  successful. 

The  opinion  of  many  voters  opposed  to  the  return  of  beer  and 
wine  is  voiced  by  Colonel  Hayward,  U.  S.  District  Attorney  of  New 
York,  who  says:  "The  beer  memorial  to  Congress  which  Governor 
Alfred  Smith  sponsored  was  a  beer  pledge  over  which  the  wets  hoped 
to  cross  to  the  Island  of  Hootch."  This  discerning  attorney  also  states 
that  "When  two  popular  songs  are  sung  and  there  occurs  a  discord 
as  one  side  sings  'The  Sidewalks  of  New  York,'  and  the  other  'The 
Star  Spangled  Banner,'  there  should  be  no  doubt  which  side  you  should 
choose."  "The  signature  of  the  governor  to  the  bill,"  he  asserts,  "was 
a  violation  of  his  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
The  state  law  was  the  result  of  one  hundred  years  of  legislation." 

146 


The    Eighteenth    Amendment 

When  the  authority  of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment  was  nationally 
threatened,  President  Coolidge  invited  the  governors  of  thirty-seven 
states  to  meet  with  him  at  the  White  House.  A  determined  program 
for  the  rigid  enforcement  of  the  prohibition  laws,  that  divides  the  bur- 
den of  responsibility  between  the  Federal  and  state  governments,  was 
adopted.  "Enforcement  of  law  and  obedience  to  law,"  said  the  Presi- 
dent, "by  the  very  nature  of  our  institutions,  are  not  matters  of  choice 
in  this  republic,  but  the  expression  of  a  moral  requirement  of  living 
in  accordance  with  the  truth.  They  are  clothed  with  a  spiritual  sig- 
nificance in  which  is  revealed  the  life  or  the  death  of  the  American 
ideal  of  self-government.  The  great  body  of  the  people  are  thoroughly 
law-abiding.  This  great  law-abiding  element  of  the  nation  is  entitled  to 
support  and  protection.  I  propose  to  give  that  support  and  protection 
to  the  limit  provided  by  the  Constitution  and  the  law  of  the  land 
against  every  lawless  element.  The  executives  are  required  to  enforce 
the  law."  On  another  occasion  the  President,  in  appealing  for  better 
law  enforcement,  said :  "It  is  the  duty  of  a  citizen  not  only  to  observe 
the  law,  but  to  let  it  be  known  that  he  is  opposed  to  its  violation." 

"Everybody  is  ready  to  sustain  the  laws  he  likes,"  says  the  Secre- 
tary of  State.  "That  is  not,  in^  the  proper  sense,  respect  for  law  and 
order.  The  test  of  respect  for  law  is  where  the  law  is  upheld  even ' 
though  it  hurts.  And  we  cannot  afford  in  this  country  to  have  a 
Constitutional  provision,  which  is  the  fundamental  law  of  the  land, 
ignored,  betrayed." 

On  the  fourth  birthday  of  the  Federal  prohibitory  law,  January 
16,  1924,  three-fourths  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  rejoiced  in 
the  benefits  it  had  brought  to  their  homes.  The  clamor  for  beer  and 
wine  comes  largely  from  the  foreign  element,  the  Association  Against 
the  Prohibition  Amendment  and  similar  liquor  organizations.  The 
amount  of  alcohol  consumed  by  the  average  beer  drinker  is  injurious. 
Forty-three  American  Life  Insurance  Companies  show  by  their  records 
that  "policy  holders  who  at  the  time  of  applying  for  insurance,  were  in 
the  habit  of  drinking  two  glasses  of  beer  daily  had  an  average  death 
rate  eighteen  per  cent  higher  than  the  normal  death  rate." 

Scientific  experiments  have  all  tended  to  show  that  the  man  who 
drinks  his  pint  of  wine,  or  his  two  or  more  glasses  of  beer  daily,  is 
just  as  surely  submitting  his  mind  to  the  injurious  effects  of  the  drug 
as  is  the  man  who  chooses  the  whisky  road.     It  is  the  drug  effect  of 

147 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


alcohol  for  which  beer  and  wine  are  drunk.  If  not,  then  there  is  no 
beer  or  wine  question.  There  are  palatable  non-alcoholic  drinks  made 
from  grains  and  fruits  that  do  not  produce  the  harmful  results  of  alco- 
hol. If  the  drinker  does  not  desire  the  drug  effect,  he  will  not  use 
such  drinks;  if  he  prefers  beer  and  wine,  he  prefers  them  for  the  drug 
effect  of  alcohol.  Wine,  as  generally  understood,  is  the  fermented 
juice  of  the  grape.  Wine  contains  the  habit-forming  drug.  A  one-half 
pint  of  ten  per  cent  wine  contains  as  much  alcohol  as  a  single  one- 
and-six-tenths  ounce  drink  of  whisky  and  sends  as  much  alcohol  into 
the  blood  of  the  drinker.  "The  general  moral,"  said  Francis  William 
Newman,  "is  that  the  light  wine  gives  the  taste  for  strong  wine. 
The  national  taste  has  to  be  altered  if  a  great  national  calamity  is  to 
be  wiped  out.  Total  disuse  alone  can  enable  us  to  regain  the  unso- 
phisticated taste  of  childhood."  The  above  scientific  facts  are  vouched 
for  by  Miss  Cora  F.  Stoddard.  Before  national  prohibition,  the  po- 
lice courts  of  the  big  cities  were  filled  with  men  intoxicated  by  beer 
and  v/ine.  A  Boston  policeman,  after  forty-one  years'  service,  has 
said,  "My  experience  is  that  the  beer  drinker  becomes  more  gluttonous, 
more  degraded,  and  often  more  brutal  than  any  other  kind  of  drunk- 
ard." 

The  Federal  Prohibition  Commissioner,  Roy  A.  Haynes,  strongly 
supported  by  President  Coolidge,  in  his  fearless  attitude  toward  law 
breakers  has  made  this  patriotic  and  uncompromising  statement:  "Shall 
the  saloon  come  back  into  our  homes  through  the  front  door?  No,  ten 
thousand  times,  no.  Then,  in  the  name  of  decency,  let  it  not  come 
back  through  the  cellar  door  or  the  back  door.  Shall  it  come  back 
through  the  upper  world,  with  the  approval  of  our  best  citizens  upon 
its  return?  Then  in  the  name  of  honor,  let  it  not  come  back  through 
the  underworld  of  our  life,  with  only  the  blessing  of  criminals  and  law 
breakers  upon  it.  To  say  that  it  is  impossible  for  America  to  enforce 
any  law  is  to  do  violence  to  American  tradition  and  to  underestimate 
the  American  spirit.  American  will-power  is  the  alchemy  that  has 
ever  turned  apparent  impossibilities  into  startling  achievements,  and 
now  is  the  time  when  it  must  be  determined  positively  and  definitely 
whether  or  not  we  are  able  to  make  and  enforce  our  own  laws.  This, 
in  my  humble  judgment,  is  the  greatest  problem  confronting  America 
today." 

148 


The  Eighteenth  Amendment 

Commissioner  Haynes  gives  the  following  valuable  statement  of  the 
definite  benefits  that  have  resulted  from  the  national  prohibition  of  liq- 
uor traffic  in  the  United  States  of /America: 

"Prohibition  has  reduced  the  arrests  for  drunkenness  more  than 
one-half. 

"Prohibition  has  reduced  the  arrests  for  drunkenness  among  women 
by  more  than  one-half;  in  some  localities  as  much  as  80%. 

"Prohibition  has  cut  heavily  into  the  number  of  arrests  for  of- 
fenses against  chastity. 

"Prohibition  has  reduced  by  one-half,  the  deaths  from  alcohol  and 
alcoholic  insanity, 

"Prohibition  has  lowered  the  national  death  rate  to  an  extent  that 
can  now  be  measured  in  figures. 

"Prohibition  has  materially  cut  down  the  population  of  state  penal 
farms,  prisons  and  almshouses,  releasing  thousands  of  citizens  for  use- 
ful work.  '  .,:'.«'^:»-^kK| 

"Prohibition  has  had  a  marked  influence  in  the  reduction  of  the 
number  of  cases  of  juvenile  delinquency  as  shown  by  court  records,  be- 
speaking not  only  the  force  of  example  at  home,  but  an  increased  sense 
of  responsibility  and  exercise  of  restraint  on  the  part  of  the  parent. 

"During  the  three  years  prohibition  has  been  in  operation,  there  has 
been  a  steady  falling  off  in  industrial  accidents  and  an  increase  in  the 
worker's  efficiency. 

"During  the  same  period,  there  has  been  a  rapid  improvement  in 
school  and  college  attendance. 

"There  has  been  a  continuously  increasing  activity  in  home-build- 
ing. The  volume  of  new  homes  built  in  1922  was  five  times  greater 
than  that  of  1918,  the  last  wet  year. 

"There  has  been  a  definite  movement  toward  more  wholesome  forms 
of  social  life  and  recreation.  During  each  month  of  the  year  1922, 
there  were  social  and  recreational  buildings  constructed  that  repre- 
sented an  expenditure  of  $9,164,000,  or  an  outlay  for  these  purposes  of 
$2,200,000  a  month  greater  than  that  of  1918. 

"There  was,  as  shown  by  figures  given  by  the  Comptroller  of  the 
Currency  on  savings  banks,  an  increase  in  savings  banks  deposits. 

"There  has  been  an  astonishing  increase  in  the  strength  and  mem- 
bership of  our  churches  since  prohibition  enforcement  became  a  fact. 
In  1921,  church  membership  increased  1,200,000,  in  1922,  there  was  an 

149 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


increase  of  more  than  950,000  over  the  previous  year.  For  every  day 
of  1922,  3,000  persons  joined  the  church,  twelve  ministers  were  li- 
censed or  ordained  and  seven  congregations  were  organized.  During 
the  year  an  average  of  $7,172,000  was  expended  each  month  for  the 
erection  of  churches  and  other  religious  or  memorial  buildings. 

"The  amazing  tendencies  in  our  national  life  which  we  have  wit- 
nessed since  prohibition  enforcement  became  a  fact  cannnot  be  over- 
looked or  unfelt  even  by  those  most  determinedly  opposed  to  the  law. 
The  reduction  in  the  death  rate,  the  increase  in  longevity,  the  elimi- 
nation of  the  brothel,  the  rapid  disappearance  of  crimes  against  chas- 
tity, the  falling  off  in  cases  of  destitution  due  to  intemperance,  the 
reduction  in  the  burden  of  juvenile  courts,  the  lowered  rate  of  alco- 
holic insanity,  the  abandonment  of  institutions  for  the  cure  of  drunk- 
ards— all  these  point  with  inexorable  definiteness  and  certainty  to 
the  fact  that  prohibition,  even  imperfectly  enforced  as  yet,  is  weaving 
something  new  and  worth  while  into  the  fabric  of  American  life." 

The  Federal  Prohibition  Commissioner  depends  upon  the  support 
of  the  women.  He  says,  "The  womanhood  of  America  can  co-operate 
with  the  Federal  government  in  a  great  campaign — not  in  destroying 
stills  and  arresting  violators — but  in  a  great  campaign  of  preaching 
and  living  law  observance,  a  program  of  promptly  assuming  the  respon- 
sibilities of  citizenship,  as  serving  on  juries,  meeting  nullification  prop- 
aganda, and  inspiring  the  young  and  old  with  a  proper  appraisal  of 
the  fundamentals  of  Americanism; — a  campaign  of  active  participation 
in  political  and  citizenship  problems,  for  bad  men  are  elected  by  the 
good  women  who  stay  away  from  the  polls  on  election  day."  Women 
are  resourceful  and  will  ever  find  it  possible  to  convert  "disreputable 
beer-kegs  into  substantial  bee-hives."  Already  in  one  locality  this  has 
been  done  and  while  the  beer-kegs  still  retain  their  sting,  it  isn't  of  the 
variety  formerly  administered. 

Leading  journals  are  filled  with  articles  giving  the  benefits  that 
have  accrued  to  the  nation  since  the  legalized  liquor  traffic  was 
abolished.  There  is  space  for  only  a  few  typical  statements  showing 
the  blessings  that  have  come  to  the  American  w^orkman,  to  the  Amer- 
ican home,  and  to  the  American  people  who  seek  safety  in  travel  and 
on  the  street. 

In  an  address  delivered  recently  at  a  citizenship  conference  in 
New  York  City,  Warren  S.  Stone,  national  head  of  the  organization  of 

150 


W.  C.  T.  U.  Mother-Child  Center,  Detroit,  Michigan   (above) 
Children  of  W.  C.  T.  U.  Americanization  Center,  St  Louis,  Missouri 


The  Eighteenth  Amendment 

Locomotive  Engineers,  said:  "Prohibition  has  come  to  stay.  Every 
time  you  take  a  railroad  journey,  you  ride  behind  one  of  the  men  I 
represent.  They  are  skilled  men,  keen,  cool,  bright,  w^ide-av^^ake  men 
of  the  very  highest  type,  men  v^'ho  can  think  and  act  quickly;  men  M^ith 
nerves  of  steel.  We  who  have  spent  most  of  our  lives  in  the  cab  of  a 
locomotive  know  the  infinitesimal  fraction  of  a  second  that  oftentimes 
means  safety.  That  alcohol  does  slow  down  the  brain  action  is  con- 
ceded by  all. 

"Every  law-abiding  citizen  who  loves  his  country  and  is  interested 
in  its  future  welfare  is  vitally  interested  in  the  enforcement  of  the 
Eighteenth  Amendment.  In  my  opinion,  the  future  of  our  country 
depends  entirely  on  the  enactment  of  fair  laws  and  the  enforcement 
of  the  same.  If  the  fact  is  brought  home  to  the  American  people  that 
it  is  the  intention  of  our  state  and  national  officers  to  rigidly  enforce 
the  prohibition  law,  I  am  certain  it  will  create  a  more  respectful  atti- 
tude toward  the  general  laws  of  this  country.  Every  law-breaker,  re- 
gardless of  his  social  position,  or  whether  he  be  rich  or  poor,  should 
be  required  to  pay  the  penalty  of  the  law  he  has  violated.  And  when 
every  violator  is  made  to  pay  the  penalty  of  the  broken  law,  it  will  not 
be  very  long  until  the  American  people  will  have  a  more  wholesome 
respect  for  our  laws  than  they  have  at  the  present  time. 

"There  are  some  people  laboring  under  the  delusion  that  they  are 
going  to  have  the  prohibition  law  modified  or  abolished.  Someone 
should  awake  them  from  their  Rip  Van  Winkle  sleep.  I  wish  that 
they  could  go  with  me  for  thirty  days  as  I  travel  over  this  broad  land 
of  ours  and  see  the  homes  being  erected  everywhere,  note  the  accounts 
being  opened  at  the  savings  banks;  see  the  families  all  out  together  in 
the  parks,  recreation  and  community  centers;  see  the  children  taken 
out  of  the  sweat-shops,  see  them  well  fed,  wearing  shoes  and  warm 
clothing,  and  in  school;  see  prosperity  and  sunshine  now  existing  where 
formerly  there  was  only  squalor  and  misery.  All  this  is  a  result  of 
prohibition — why,  they  had  just  as  well  talk  about  stopping  the  waves 
from  beating  on  the  shore,  or  the  sunlight  descending  from  heaven,  as 
to  imagine  they  can  stop  the  onward  march  of  the  prohibition  move- 
ment.    Again,  I  say  prohibition  has  come  to  stay." 

No  doubter  of  the  value  of  prohibition  can  escape  the  logic  of  this 
statement  made  by  another  speaker  at  the  conference: 

151 


Women    Torc  h- b  barer  s 


"Did  you  ever  hear  it  said  there  is  just  as  much  liquor  used  now 
as  ever  there  w^as — a  remark  that  w^ould  be  funny  if  it  were  not  tragic. 
Not  so  long  ago  I  had  business  in  New  York.  There  was  a  base-ball 
game  played  that  day,  and  I  took  the  time  to  go  because  I  knew  I  was 
going  to  speak  to  this  conference,  and  I  wanted  to  tell  those  gathered 
what  I  saw.  I  went  out  to  the  ball-grounds  and  there  were  about 
seventy  thousand  people  present,  and  I  not  only  watched  the  game, 
but  I  watched  the  crowd.  I  did  not  see  a  single  man  or  woman  in- 
toxicated, and  there  wasn't  an  instance  of  disorder.  And  such  condi- 
tions obtain  all  over  this  country  today.  I  have  no  need  to  tell  you 
about  New  York  and  other  places.  What  about  the  situation  in  your 
own  home  city  or  town?  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  a  drunken  man  on  the 
streets  today  is  a  rarity — a  curiosity?  Of  course,  I  say  there  are 
entirely  too  many  if  there  are  any  at  all.  But  that  is  not  my  point. 
My  point  is  that  any  man  who  is  fair,  and  looking  for  facts  in  every 
community  in  the  United  States,  will  say  that  conditions  have  un- 
proved tremendously,  and  even  if  we  make  no  greater  progress  than 
we  have  made  up  to  this  hour,  the  Eighteenth  Amendment  would  have 
been  magnificently  worth  while." 

Recently,  the  National  Federation  of  Settlements,  after  an  exhaus- 
tive inquiry  in  forty-five  cosmopolitan  centers  passed  the  following  re- 
solution: "Believing  that  practically  full  enforcement  of  the  Eight- 
eenth Amendment  is  vital  to  the  safety  and  well-being  of  the  nation 
and  is  practically  feasible  in  every  community,  resolved.  That  the  Na- 
tional Federation  of  Settlements  heartily  approves  the  efforts  of  those 
who  are  striving  to  enforce  this  amendment  and  calls  upon  all  the  duly 
constituted  authorities  strictly  to  enforce  all  the  laws  for  securing  its 
operation  as  the  law  of  the  land."  Commissioner  of  Correction,  Fred- 
erick A.  Wallis,  of  New  York  City,  declares  that  "The  present  pop- 
ulation of  the  various  institutions  of  the  department  of  correction  has 
been  much  less  since  the  Volstead  Act  became  effective,  than  it  was  in 
the  same  number  of  years  prior  to  the  Volstead  Act."  This  decrease 
in  prison  population  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  the  multitude  that 
had  free  access  to  liquor  in  the  past,  cannot  now  obtain  it  so  easily, 
and  fights  and  brawls  have  been  greatly  reduced  and  disorderly-conduct 
cases  are  fewer. 

The  value  of  prohibition  is  evidenced  on  the  Bowery  in  New  York 
City.      A    view    of    the    Bowery,    according    to    The    Survey,    shows 


152 


The  Eighteenth  Amendment 

that  since  prohibition  went  into  effect  the  bread  line,  even  in  the  crisis 
or  unemployment,  has  been  discontinued.  "Before  prohibition  many 
good  people  were  worried  about  the  disappearance  of  the  saloon — the 
poor  man's  club'  and  certain  labor  leaders  with  moist  idiosyncrasies 
predicted  all  kinds  of  dire  consequences.  The  problem  took  care  of 
itself.  Those  qualities  which  made  the  bar-tender  popular  behind  the 
mahogany  bar,  are  now  better  appreciated  and  rewarded  behind  the 
lunch  or  ice-cream  counter.  The  assertion,  or  belief,  that  men  really 
like  to  wallow  in  the  mire  of  the  bar-room  belongs  to  the  days  of  So- 
dom and  Gomorrah.  Witness  the  drunkards  of  yesterday  adorned  in 
white  collar,  multicolored  silk  shirt,  with  stiff  hat,  brown  shoes  and  a 
'nobby'  suit  and  necktie,  a  trifle  gaudy,  somewhat  loud — screaming  if 
you  please — but  it  heralds  the  awakening  of  a  man  just  as  the  thrush 
and  the  violet  betoken  the  coming  of  spring." 

"We  have  heard  much  and  often,  through  the  newspapers,  that 
the  American  Labor  movement  unanimously  wants  and  votes  for  light 
wines  and  beer,"  says  Mrs.  Raymond  Robins,  social  economist.  "There 
is  no  such  unanimity.  In  Chicago,  the  president  of  the  Federation 
of  Labor,  John  Fitzpatrick,  is  a  total  abstainer,  and  has  been 
one  for  all  the  long  years  that  I  have  known  him,  and  Steve 
Sumner,  organizer  of  the  Milk  Wagon  Drivers'  union,  is  a  prohibi- 
tionist and  appeals  so  persuasively  that  he  has  succeeded  in  getting 
every  member  of  that  union  to  sign  the  pledge.  There  are  no  labor- 
ing women  who  do  not  know  the  hideousness  of  the  political  control 
of  the  liquor  interests.  It  mattered  not  what  bills  were  introduced 
in  the  state  legislatures  for  bettering  the  industrial  conditions  of 
women  and  children;  it  mattered  not  whether  we  worked  to  secure 
the  protection  of  children,  the  enfranchisement  of  women,  or  the 
eight-hour  day,  we  were  opposed  by  the  liquor  interests.  Whether 
we  asked  to  have  the  children  of  the  richest  land  in  the  world  taken 
out  of  the  mines  and  factories  and  put  into  the  schools,  whether  we 
asked  for  the  shorter  work-day  or  the  right  of  women  to  the  ballot — 
it  mattered  not  how  simple  the  request — we  were  met  by  the  united 
opposition  of  the  liquor  interests — including  light  wines  and  beer. 
These  same  interests  are  seeking  to  regain  their  lost  political  control 
by  using  unthinking  folk,  and  especially  the  j'ounger  men  and  women, 
to  do  their  bidding  and  work  for  the  return  of  these  conditions  of 
humiliation  and  disgrace — and  this  in  the  name  of  liberty.     With  Mr. 

153 


Women    To  rc  h  -  b  barer  s 


Robins  I  went  to  Chicago  eighteen  years  ago.  We  made  our  home 
on  the  top  floor  of  a  tenement  house  in  the  old  Seventeenth  Ward, 
a  river  w^ard  v^^ith  75,000  folk  in  less  than  a  mile  square,  represent- 
ing twenty- three  or  more  different  nationalities  with  a  different 
ethical,  political,  religious  and  economic  heritage,  yet  holding  in  com- 
mon one  purpose — the  building  of  a  home;  and  one  faith — the  hope  of 
a  better  life. 

"In  the  early  days,  w^e  .had  practically  three  saloons  to  every  four 
street  corners.  To  know  our  neighbors  we  had  to  know  saloons 
and  saloon-keepers,  and  to  meet  with  the  working  women  in  their 
trade  union  gatherings,  we  met  often  in  the  saloon  parlor  because 
good  people  would  not  permit  us  to  meet  elsewhere.  In  those  days, 
in  New  York  or  Chicago,  or  many  another  large  city,  a  union  of  young 
girls  had  no  other  place  for  its  meetings.  Today,  with  a  growing 
conception  of  the  value  of  life,  schools  and  churches  have  opened 
their  doors  and  young  girls  are  welcomed  whether  they  come  to  study 
literature  in  their  clubs  or  economic  conditions  in  their  union. 

"We  need  to  re-state  our  reasons  for  the  enactment  of  the 
Eighteenth  Amendment,  because  there  have  come  into  maturity  young 
men  and  young  women  to  whom  this  story  is  not  known.  We  must  re- 
state the  reasons  for  our  faith.  I  want  them  to  know  that  we  are 
living  not  only  under  the  'Thou  shall  not'  of  the  Old  Testament,  but 
that  we  are  living  also  under  the  'Thou  shalt'  of  the  New  Test- 
ment ;  that  we  are  living  not  only  under  the  law,  but  that  we  also 
live  under  grace.  We  want  our  message  to  contain  not  merely  'Thou 
shalt  not  drink,'  'Thou  shalt  not  be  a  bootlegger.'  'Thou  shalt  not 
break  the  law,'  but  the  greater  word, — 'Thou  shalt  be  fir,'  'Thou 
shalt  be  free,'  'Thou  shalt  have  life  more  abundantly.'  We  want 
the  understanding  of  the  young  men  and  women  of  the  nation  and 
their  free  assent  to  the  task  in  hand." 

The  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company  gives  this  cheermg 
statement:  "Deaths  from  alcoholism  among  15,000,000  industrial 
policy  holders,  decreased  17.5%  during  the  first  quarter  of  1924  as 
compared  to  the  same  period  in  1923.  The  death  rate  from 
alcoholism  so  far  in  1924  is  2.8%  per  100,000  among  its  policy 
holders."  One  of  the  latest  scientific  statements  concerning  alcohol 
recently  given  by  Professor  W,  D.  Lew^is  of  the  department  of 
chemistry    of    Northwestern    University    should    have    wide    publicity. 

154 


The  Eighteenth  Amendment 

"All  alcohol  of  whatever  kind,"  Professor  Lewis  says,  "from  the  al- 
cohol of  fermentation  to  wood  alcohol,  is  deadly  poison.  Its 
action  differs  from  that  of  other  poisons  only  in  the  rapidity  of 
reaction.  Every  kind  of  alcohol  has  a  malicious  effect  upon  the 
blood,  nerves  and  tissues,  and  these  effects  have  been  proved  to  be 
permanent.  Wood  alcohol,  when  taken  into  the  body,  forms  for- 
maldehyde and  formic  acid."  In  view  of  these  facts,  Professor  Lewis' 
assertion  that  only  a  chemist  in  a  laboratory  can  tell  the  difference 
betM'^een  wood  alcohol  and  a  common  alcohol  of  fermentation  assumes 
a  new  significance. 

The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  believes  that  the 
American  people  are  determined  that  the  Eighteenth  Amendment  shall 
be  enforced.  A  story  is  told  of  a  man  in  a  railway  car  in  England 
%\ho  took  in  with  him  a  large  mastiff.  A  guard  came  in  and  told 
him  that  he  must  put  the  dog  into  the  baggage  car.  "Is  that  so !"  said 
the  man,  smiling  politely.  "You  put  him  out."  The  guard  moved  to- 
ward the  dog,  but  the  dog  showed  his  teeth  and  the  guard  went  out 
and  locked  the  door.  At  another  station  a  similar  scene  occurred.  At 
a  third  station  no  guard  came  in.  The  man  said  to  himself  com- 
placently, "I  have  carried  my  point."  Then  he  began  to  wonder  why 
they  stayed  so  long  at  that  station.  Seeing  a  guard  passing,  he  called 
to  him  from  the  window  and  inquired  why  they  were  remaining  so 
long.  The  man  answered,  "You  were  twice  notified  to  put  out  your 
dog.  You  did  not  do  it  and  so  we  have  side-tracked  you  and  the  train 
has  been  gone  an  hour."  Is  it  not  the  opportune  time  to  side-track 
legislators  and  political  parties  that  pay  no  heed  to  the  demand  of 
the  protectors  of  the  home,  and  let  the  law  obeying  people  travel 
on  to  a  higher  civilization? 

Representing  the  National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 
of  nearly  half  a  million  voting  citizens,  the  national  president  recently 
spoke  before  the  platform  committees  of  the  Republican  and 
Democratic  parties.  The  committees  were  asked  to  embody  in  their 
platforms  a  declaration  for  law  enforcement  with  special  reference  to 
the  maintenance  of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment. 

Today,  there  are  needed  officials  like  these  of  whom  J.  G.  Holland 
in  "Wanted"  wrote,  "Men  whom  the  lust  of  office  cannot  kill ; 
Men  whom  the  spoils  of  office  cannot  buy;  Men  who  possess  opinions 
and  a  will ;  Men  who  love  honor ;  Men  who  will  not  lie ;  Men  who  can 

155 


Women    Torc  h- b  barer  s 


stand  before  a  demagogue,  and  brave  his  treacherous  flatteries  without 
winking." 

The  great  scientist,  Dr.  C.  W.  Saleeby,  quoted  in  an  earlier  chap- 
ter, makes  a  declaration  of  profound  significance  when  he  points  out 
that  the  prohibition  movement  is  a  question  of  preserving  the  life 
of  nations  from  generation  to  generation :  "On  the  day  American  pro- 
hibition came  into  force,"  writes  Dr.  Saleeby,  "I  said  it  was  the 
greatest  health  measure  in  history.  The  home's  greatest  enemy  has 
been  turned  out.  The  homes  of  the  people  have  been  protected. 
Motherhood,  the  first  sacred  circle  around  the  future  life  of  the  race, 
is  protected  and  the  home  is  made  safe."  In  many  of  the  large  cities 
today  there  are  figures  to  prove  this  assertion.  Dr.  Saleeby  verified 
his  statement  with  well-accredited  statistics. 

Professor  Amos  R.  Wells,  the  brainy  and  brave  editor  of 
The  Christian  Endeavor  World,  Boston,  Massachusetts,  in  the  fol- 
lowing lines  on  "Prohibition  Enforcement,"  well  expresses  the  deter- 
mined purpose  of  the  allied  forces  of  the  home — the  purpose  to  de- 
stroy this  racial  poison: 

"We  have  put  out  the  fire  that  was  burning  our  house, 

And  they  bring  us  a  match  to  light  it  again. 

We  have  got  the  wild  animals  trapped  in  their  lair; 

They  would  smash  the  obstructions  and  open  the  den. 

"We  have  cured  the  disease  that  was  sapping  our  life ; 

They  would  feed  us  with  germs  of  that  very  disease. 
We  have  planted  an  orchard  with  promise  of  wealth ; 

They  would  poison  the  ground,  they  would  girdle  the  trees. 

"We  are  out  of  our  wilderness  weary  and  worn ; 

They  would  turn  us  right  back  to  those  desolate  ways. 
We  have  lighted  a  beacon  that  flashes  afar; 

They  would  put  out  the  light,  they  would  darken  our  daj^s. 

"We  have  battled  too  hard  to  be  caught  by  a  trick. 

We  have  traveled  too  far  to  be  turned  at  the  goal. 
We  will  hold  all  our  gains  to  the  very  last  inch. 

We  will  win  all  mankind  to  the  very  last  soul!" 

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The    Eighteenth    Amendm  e_n_t 

Mrs.  Mabel  Walker  Willebrandt,  Assistant  United  States  Attorney 
General,  whom  Jack  O'Donnell  in  Collier  s  call  "prohibition's  white 
hope,"  is  a  member  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  She  is  hated  and  feared  by 
liquor  law  breakers.  ''Give  me  the  authority"  she  says,  "and  let  me 
have  my  pick  of  three  hundred  men  and  I  will  make  this  country  as 
dry  as  it  is  humanly  possible  to  get  it.  There  is  one  way  it  can  be 
done — get  at  the  sources  of  supply.  I  know  them  and  I  know  how 
they  could  be  cut  off.  I  have  no  patience  with  this  policy  of  going 
after  the  hip-pocket  and  speak-easy  cases.  That  is  like  trying  to  dry 
up  the  Atlantic  ocean  with  a  blotter!"  The  story  as  Mr.  O'Donnell 
tells  it,  reads  like  a  romance.  This  American  up-to-date  young  woman, 
a  judge,  is  the  heroine.  In  her  conflict  with  lawlessness,  she  pierces 
the  enemy's  armor  with  the  sword  of  law.  Mr.  O'Donnell  sums  up, 
in  the  following  paragraph,  the  prowess  displayed  by  this  "first  legal 
lady  of  the  land":  "She  is  the  woman  who  broke  up  the  Big  Four 
bootleg  ring  of  Savannah,  Georgia;  put  George  Remus,  one-time  real 
king  of  booze  venders,  in  Atlanta  Penitentiary ;  wrote  most  of  the 
opinions  which  hamper  booze  running  and  rum  smuggling,  and  is  the 
one  person  in  official  Washington  who  could  and,  if  vested  with  proper 
authority,  wovdd  make  America  almost  bone  dry.  Mrs.  Willebrandt 
doesn't  bow  to  any  political  god  and  she  places  honesty  above  party 
expediency." 

Under  the  direction  of  the  gifted  national  W.  C.  T.  U.  director  of 
the  Christian  Citizenship  department,  Mrs.  Ida  B.  Wise  Smith,  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.,  national  and  state,  is  pushing  its  own  progressive  citizen- 
ship and  law  enforcement  program.  In  co-operation  with  other  organ- 
izations, that  met  for  conference  in  Washington,  D.  C,  Fred  B. 
Smith,  chairman,  the  following  program  was  adopted. 

"Scientific  temperance  instruction  in  the  public  schools ;  pledge  sign- 
ing in  churches  and  Sunday  Schools ;  a  ten  years'  program  of  training  in 
sobriety  and  clean  living;  systematic  distribution  of  prohibition  data; 
churches  and  right  minded  members  of  clubs  should  discourage  efforts  to 
circumvent  the  law  and  cultivate  clean  recreation  and  fellowship;  in- 
creased use  of  appeals  to  the  eye.  Conferences  with  movie  producers 
for  elimination  of  scoffing  at  prohibition  and  creation  of  scenes  de- 
picting value  of  abstinence  and  prohibition ;  training  of  young  people 
in  citizenship ;  promotion  of  respect  for  law ;  must  not  honor  law  break- 
ers whether  in  high  lifje  or  low.     The  strength  and  perpetuity  of  the 

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Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


nations  lie  in  the  moral  character  of  the  people.  Forces  of  nullifica- 
tion and  lawlessness  are  everywhere  at  work.  The  forces  of  education 
must  reconceive  their  task,  gird  themselves  for  new  adventure  and 
organize  for  at  least  a  ten  years'  campaign." 

The  W.  C.  T.  U.,  represented  by  the  national  president  and  Legis- 
lative superintendent,  is  a  vital  factor  of  the  Woman's  National 
Committee  for  Law  Enforcement.  The  recent  convening  in  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  of  this  influential  committee  meant  that  the  lead- 
ing women  of  the  nation  are  determined  to  secure  allegiance  to  the 
Constitution  and  observance  of  law.  The  general  chairman  of  this  in- 
clusive patriotic  committee  is  Mrs.  Henry  W.  Peabody  of  Boston, 
Massachusetts;  first  vice-chairman,  Mrs.  William  F.  McDowell  ot 
Washington,  D.  C. ;  editor,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Tilton  of  Cambridge, 
Massachusetts.  "Forward  into  the  moral  battle,"  "Up  and  doing"  are 
the  earnest  watchwords  of  this  campaign.  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt  ex- 
pressed her  appreciation  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  which  she  is  a  member, 
when  she  said,  "There  is  something  that  we  women  who  never  did 
aught  to  bring  prohibition  should  do  now.  Some  of  you,  like  myself, 
were  busy  along  other  lines  perhaps,  or  perhaps  you  were  indifferent; 
but  at  the  same  time,  while  we  were  at  work  elsewhere,  there  were 
women  who  were  working  night  and  day  with  a  sacrifice,  with  a  power 
of  which  we  of  this  time  have  little  idea.  Some  of  you  may  perhaps  be 
old  enough  to  remember,  as  do  I,  the  time  when  churches  did  not 
work  in  fellowship  with  each  other ;  and  the  greatest  cause  that  brought 
their  union  about  was  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union. 
There  never  has  been  a  woman  leader  in  this  country  greater  nor  per- 
haps so  great  as  Frances  Willard.  In  those  early  days,  when  those 
women, — when  the  world  did  not  sympathize  with  them,  when  the 
vision  that  made  them  follow  the  light  was  not  visible  to  others — in 
those  days  they  labored,  and  now  they  have  achieved.  I  am  not  for- 
getting what  the  men  did.  But  I  do  not  believe  the  people  of  this 
country  would  ever  have  achieved  prohibition  had  it  not  been  for 
those  women." 

Among  the  many  noted  women  friendly  to  the  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union,  is  the  distinguished  author  of  "America  the  Beauti- 
ful," Katherine  Lee  Bates.  Speaking  at  the  Washington  Conference, 
Professor  Bates,  referring  to  "America  the  Beautiful,"  said :     "What 

158 


The  Eighteenth  Amendment 

strength,  what  uplift  it  may  have,  it  draws  from  the  American   re- 
sponse.   It  is  yours  as  much  as  mine,  save  for  the  wording." 
Repeating  the  second  stanza, 

*0  beautiful  for  pilgrim  feet, 

Whose  stern,  impassioned  stress 
A  thoroughfare  for  freedom  beat 

Across  the  wilderness! 
America !    America ! 

God  mend  thine  ev'ry  flaw, 
Confirm  thy  soul  in  self-control. 
Thy  liberty  in  law!' 
Professor  Bates  said :    "America  is  still  a  wilderness  to  be  made  beautf- 
ful  with  law  and  order,  self-mastery  and  self-sacrifice.    Freedom  sought 
and  found  through  such  brave  effort,  such  mighty  labor,  has  yet  to  be 
interpreted,  to  be  distinguished  from  license,  to  be  recognized  as  a  force 
of  construction,  not  of  destruction.  Is  not  this  great  convention  gathered 
here  to  remind  liberty  that  her  true  name  is  obedience? 

"It  is  perhaps  easier  for  women  than  for  men  to  keep  the  Beatific 
Vision  clear  of  the  confusion  of  the  senses.  It  is  not  material  prosperity 
that  matters  most,  but  to  build  in  beauty,  in  peace,  in  honor,  in  love, 
those  shining  walls  of  the  new  Jerusalem.  Why  do  we  not  build  it 
here  and  now;  why  wait?  For  brotherhood  there  are  no  national 
bounds.  I  have  sometimes  been  asked  to  write  a  fifth  stanza  to  thfs 
song,  making  it  international  in  scope,  but  songs  write  themselves.  Yet 
in  my  thought  I  fling  the  last  line  around  the  globe.  Our  prayer  for 
brotherhood  not  content  with  embracing  the  broad  lands  from  Atlantic 
to  Pacific,  would  enfold  Asia  and  Africa  and  Europe  in  its  return  flight 
from  the  Pacific  to  the  Atlantic. 

'America,  America 

God  shed  his  grace  on  thee. 

And  crown  thy  good  with  brotherhood 

From  sea  to  shining  sea.' " 
Mrs.  Kathleen  Norris,  the  noted  author,  who  also  addressed  the 
Washington  conference,  gave  this  vivid  word-picture  of  the  Woman's 
March  of  Allegiance  which  was  the  leading  factor  in  securing  for  the 
state  of  California  the  Enforcement  Act.  Mrs.  Norris  said  in  part: 
"We  had  in  California  what  they  call  a  50,000  rock-bottom  wet  vote. 
We  called  together  a  mass  meeting  of  the  women  who  were  interested. 

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Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


Mrs.  Paul  Raymond  hoped  for  three  hundred  women  and  sent  out 
invitations  to  more  than  10,000!  She  organized  the  largest  luncheor> 
ever  given  in  San  Francisco.  There  w^ere  1700  women  at  that  luncheon, 
and  as  one  of  the  wet  papers  remarked  disgustedly  the  next  day,  'The 
town  boiled  with  women.'  Each  one  of  the  women  who  came  found  a 
card  at  her  place  which  said,  'I  am  in  sympathy  with  the  enforcement  of 
the  law.  I  can  work.'  We  rounded  those  women  up  into  an  enormous 
committee,  and  each  one  went  back  to  her  district  and  did  what  she 
could.  That  was  the  first  step.  After  that  we  stormed  the  news- 
papers. Don't  think  that  letters  do  not  count.  I  am  a  newspaper  woman 
and  I  say  this  to  you  in  all  seriousness:  Letters  from  responsible 
women  are  a  tremendous  influence  in  any  newspaper  office.  One  hun- 
dred letters  from  one  hundred  voters  and  tax-payers  will  carry  what- 
ever points  those  women  are  trying  to  carry.  We  ended  our  campaign 
two  days  before  election  with  that  thoroughly  horrible  experience — a 
street  march!  It  is  a  terrible  thing  to  contemplate,  it  is  a  glorious 
thing  to  do.  You  don't  walk,  you  float!  We  hoped  to  get  seven  hun- 
dred women  in  our  march,  and  it  rose  to  seven  thousand.  We  started 
at  ten  o'clock  at  the  Ferry  Building  and  walked  a  short  mile.  They 
cleared  the  streets  for  us.  We  had  two  bands  and  some  carriages. 
Most  of  us  walked.  It  seemed  to  have  a  psychological  effect  upon  the 
people  and  the  press,  that  was  incalculable.  That  night  the  wets  staged 
a  parade  in  which  a  large  truck  full  of  beer  barrels  was  represented 
with  'Columbia'  the  figure  of  our  liberty  and  our  nation  riding  on 
those  barrels.  We  carried  the  state,  broke  up  the  fifty  thousand  rock- 
bottom  wet  majority,  and  added  thirty-five  thousand  dry  votes  to  Cali- 
fornia's usual  vote.  California  adopted  a  state  enforcement  code. 
California  went  dry."  The  Woman's  Committee,  including  thou- 
sands of  white-ribboners,  by  its  far-reaching  publicity,  make  it 
known  that  Mrs.  Willebrandt,  Assistant  Attorney  General  of  the 
United  States,  says:  "The  Eighteenth  Amendment  is  a  part  of  the  Con- 
stitution made  so  by  the  same  legal  steps,  although  by  a  far  greater 
number  of  states  and  legislative  majorities,  than  the  fourth,  fifth, 
fourteenth  and  fifteenth  amendments  which  every  bootlegger  claims  for 
his  protection  while  breaking  the  Eighteenth  Amendment." 

Three  influential  lawyers  of  Connecticut  and  New  York  City,  the 
loyal  sons  of  a  white  ribbon  mother,  are  the  authority  for  the  follow- 
ing   hisorical    facts:    The    general    court   of    Connecticut    held    April 


160 


The    Eighteenth    Amendment 

5,  1638,  adopted  eleven  articles  known  as  the  Fundamental  Orders. 
This  was  the  oldest  of  American  constitutions.  It  was  the  guide  in 
the  formation  of  the  constitutions  adopted  by  sister  states  as  well  as 
a  foundation  later  for  the  Federal  Constitution  and  the  system  of 
representation  in  the  American  republic. 

The  following  is  a  beautiful  concept  of  national  and  international 
law  which  is  found  in  "The  Laws  of  Eccleslasticall  Politie,"  written  in 
1554  to  1600,  and  dedicated  to  Richard  Hooker,  the  founder  of  Con- 
necticut : 

"O  law,  there  can  be  no  less  acknowledged  than  that  her  seat  is 
the  bosom  of  God,  her  voice  the  harmony  of  the  world ;  all  things  do  her 
homage.  The  very  least  has  felt  her  care;  and  the  greatest  is  not 
exempt  from  her  power ;  both  angels  and  men  and  creatures  of  what  con- 
dition soever,  though  each  in  different  sort  and  manner,  yet  all  with 
uniform  consent  admiring  her  as  the  mother  of  their  peace  and  joy." 

A  generation  later,  with  the  same  high  appreciation  of  order  and 
harmony,  Abraham  Lincoln  said:  "Let  reverence  for  the  law  be 
breathed  by  every  American  mother  to  the  lisping  babe  that  prattles 
on  her  lap;  let  it  be  taught  in  schools,  in  seminaries  and  in  colleges; 
let  it  be  written  in  primers,  spelling  books  and  in  almanacs;  let  it  be 
preached  from  the  pulpits,  proclaimed  in  legislative  halls  and  en- 
forced in  Courts  of  Justice  and  in  short,  let  it  become  the  political  re- 
ligion of  the  nation,  and  let  the  old  and  the  young,  the  rich  and  the 
poor,  the  grave  and  the  gay,  of  all  the  sexes  and  tongues  and  colors 
and  conditions  sacrifice  unceasingly  upon  its  altars." 


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CHAPTER  VIII 

The  Nineteenth  Amendment 

The  passage  by  the  United  States  Congress  of  the  Nineteenth 
Amendment  (the  Susan  B.  Anthony  Bill)  in  May,  1919,  and  its  rati- 
fication in  September,  1920,  giving  the  women  the  right  to  vote  on 
equal  terms  vuith  men,  caused  great  rejoicing  among  the  new  electorate. 

W.  C.  T.  U.  women  were  especially  jubilant  over  the  Nineteenth 
Amendment  for  it  passed  Congress  at  the  psychological  moment  to  help 
the  enforcement  of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment.  The  leaders  of  the 
liquor  trade  who  for  more  than  two  decades  have  so  bitterly  fought 
all  woman  suffrage  measures  were  in  consternation. 

This  victory  for  women  ended  a  seventy  years'  campaign  of  agita- 
tion in  which  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  had  a  mighty 
part.  The  text  of  the  Amendment  (Susan  B.  Anthony)  reads:  "The 
right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall  not  he  denied  by 
the  United  States  or  by  any  state  on  account  of  sex."  This  bill  was 
presented  by  the  Hon.  Jeannette  Rankin  of  Montana — the  fortieth 
time  the  measure  had  been  introduced.  For  the  first  time,  a  woman 
was  sponsor  in  Congress  for  any  bill — and  this  was  a  measure  giv- 
ing equality  of  citizenship  to  her  sex.  At  that  period,  there  were  ten 
million  women  of  voting  age  in  the  United  States.  Susan  B.  Anthony 
and  Lucy  Stone  were  pioneer  workers  together  for  this  bill.  The 
writer,  recalling  the  elderly,  benignant  face  and  strong,  womanly 
personality  of  Lucy  Stone  (Blackwell)  can  scarcely  believe  the  truth 
of  an  incident  occurring  in  Lucy  Stone's  early  career,  often  related 
by  her  in  the  later  and  happier  years.  A  Boston  clergyman  was  asked 
to  give  a  pulpit  notice  of  a  lecture  soon  to  be  given  by  this  unafraid 
pioneer,  and  announced  that  on  such  a  date  in  a  certain  Boston  hall, 
"a  hen  would  crow!" 

In  the  height  of  prohibition  and  suflFrage  campaigns,  Frances  Wil- 
lard  and  Anna  Gordon  were  frequent  visitors  at  the  office  of  The 
Woman's  Journal  on  Park  Street,  Boston,  Massachusetts,  where,  in 
converse  with  Lucy  Stone,  Henry  Blackwell  and  their  white  ribbon 
daughter  (Alice  Stone  Blackwell)  then  a  student  at  Boston  University', 
there  were  witty  scintillations  and  constructive  argumentations — a 
plenty.  Speaking  at  a  suffrage  hearing  on  Beacon  Hill  often  was  on 
Miss  Willard's  program,  and  also  conferences  with  such  elect  spirit^ 

162 


The    Nineteenth    Amendment 

as  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph  Cook,  Rev.  Edward  Everett  Hale  and  Bishop 
Phillips  Brooks.  It  is  well  to  recall  this  galaxy  of  forward-looking 
friends  who  in  the  'effete  East'  bravely  and  gaily  battled  for  woman's 
emancipation. 

Early  in  its  history,  under  the  leadership  of  Frances  Willard,  the 
National  W.  C.  T.  U.  made  public  sentiment  for  woman  sufErage — 
as  a  temperance  measure.  At  the  national  convention  held  in  1875, 
forty-nine  years  ago,  this  courageous  resolution  was  passed:  "Since 
women  are  among  the  greatest  sufferers  from  the  liquor  traffic,  and 
realizing  that  it  is  ultimately  to  be  suppressed  by  means  of  the  ballot, 
we,  the  Christian  women  of  this  land  in  convention  assembled,  do 
pray  Almighty  God,  and  good  and  true  men,  that  the  question  of  the 
prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic  should  be  submitted  to  all  adult  citizens 
irrespective  of  race,  color  or  sex." 

Commenting,  in  her  autobiography  on  these  early  days,  Miss  Wil- 
lard says:  "In  1875,  I  remember  writing  a  declaration  to  this  efifect: 
'Resolved,  that  since  woman  is  the  greatest  sufferer  from  the  rum  curse, 
she  ought  to  have  power  to  close  the  dramshop  door  over  against  her 
home.'  I  told  the  women  that  I  had  no  home  in  that  word's  highest 
and  most  sacred  sense,  and  I  never  would  in  this  world,  although  I 
hope  to  in  a  better ;  and  that  if  I  could  brave  an  adverse  public  opinion 
for  the  sake  of  other  women's  homes,  surely  they  could  do  so.  for  the 
sake  of  their  home.  These  words  I  could  hardly  speak  for  the  ache 
in  heart  and  throat,  and  I  saw  tears  in  many  a  gentle  woman's  eyes 
as  I  made  my  simple  plea." 

In  1876,  at  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Convention  held  in  New- 
ark, New  Jersey,  Frances  Willard  encountered  decided  opposition  to 
her  appeal  for  woman's  ballot — as  a  temperance  measure.  A  lady  from 
New  York,  gray-haired  and  dignified,  who  was  presiding  the  night 
Miss  Willard  made  her  first  public  plea  for  woman's  ballot,  said  to  the 
audience:  "The  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  is  not  responsible  for  the 
utterances  of  this  evening.  We  have  no  mind  to  trail  our  skirts  in  the 
mire  of  politics."  As  Frances  Willard  left  the  church,  one  of  the 
chief  women  bitterly  said  to  her:  ''You  might  have  been  a  leader  in 
our  national  councils,  but  you  have  deliberately  chosen  to  be  only  a 
scout."  Miss  Willard,  however,  was  not  dismayed,  for  she  knew  that 
the  majority  of  the  audience,  though  timid,  really  sj'mpathized  with  her, 

163 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


The  white-ribboners  who  courageously  promoted  sentiment  for 
woman's  ballot,  were  building  better  than  they  knew.  They  were  de- 
claring not  only  for  the  cause  of  temperance,  but  for  "the  diviner 
womanhood  that  should  bring  in  the  era  of  sweeter  manners,  purer 
laws!  for  the  mighty  forces  which  should  level  up,  not  down,  and 
which  should  draw  manhood  up  to  woman's  standard  of  purity  in  the 
personal  conduct  of  life." 

In  1877,  at  the  Chicago  Convention,  this  resolution  received  the 
majority  vote:  "As  the  responsibility  of  the  training  of  the  children 
and  youth  rests  largely  upon  woman,  she  ought  to  be  allowed  to  open 
or  close  the  rum-shop  door  over  against  her  home."  In  April,  1878, 
supported  by  the  organization,  Frances  Willard  sent  a  memorial  to  Con- 
gress asking  the  Senators  and  Representatives  to  recommend  such 
legislation  as  would,  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  the  territories, 
make  legal  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage,  only  when 
the  majority  of  the  men  by  their  votes  and  the  women  by  their  sig- 
natures, should  ask  that  such  sale  might  be  legalized. 

In  presenting  this  memorial,  Miss  Willard  said:  "First  among 
the  powerful  and  controlled  instincts  of  our  nature,  stands  that  of 
self-preservation,  and  next  to  that,  if,  indeed,  it  should  not  take  superior 
rank,  comes  that  of  mother-love.  It  is  as  deep  and  resistless  as  the 
tides  of  the  sea.  The  stronghold  of  the  rum  power  lies  in  the  fact  that 
it  has  upon  its  side  two  of  the  most  powerful  of  human  appetites — in  the 
dealer,  the  appetite  for  gain ;  and  in  the  drinker,  the  appetite  for  stimu- 
lants. As  God  has  provided  in  nature  an  antidote  for  every  poison, 
and  a  compensation  for  every  loss,  so  in  human  society  He  has  or- 
dained against  alcohol — that  worst  foe  of  the  social  state,  an  enemy, 
beneath  whose  blows  it  is  to  bite  the  dust.  Brothers,  there  is  not  one 
of  you  to  whom  some  woman's  life  is  not  a  dear  and  sacred  thing." 

At  the  national  convention  held  the  same  year  in  Baltimore,  Mary- 
land, Frances  Willard,  referring  to  this  memorial,  called  it  the  Home 
Protection  Petition,  Speaking  in  heart-to-heart  fashion,  she  related  to 
the  assembly  this  personal  experience:  "The  thought  of  the  Home 
Protection  came  to  me  on  my  knees  one  Sunday  morning  in  the  room  of 
a  veteran  Crusader  in  Columbus,  Ohio.  I  knew  it  meant  criticism, 
but  I  acted  according  to  my  conscience  and  my  light.  A  Baltimore  lady 
said  to  me  yesterday,  'Persimmons  are  nice  when  they  are  ripe,  but  they 
pucker  the  mouth  when  they  are  green.'    This  Home  Protection  Peti- 


164 


cJirs.  Deborah  Knox  Uyingstofi 


iMrsJrances  MOrahanL 


Qj^frs.  Mary  Hurris  Armor  Catharine  Wau^hM^CiUloch 


The    Nineteenth    Amendment 

tion  IS  a  green  persimmon  in  Maryland,  but,  my  friends,  it  is  a  ripe 
one  yonder  on  the  prairies,  and  you  surely  wouldn't  forbid  us  to  gather 
and  partake  of  it." 

Several  years  later,  Frances  Willard  found  a  strong  friend  in  the 
famous  astronomer,  Maria  Mitchell,  who  gave  her  a  "Home  Protection" 
audience  at  the  National  Woman's  Congress.  At  the  same  national 
convention,  Hannah  Whitall  Smith  of  Philadelphia,  always  progressive, 
stated  her  view-point  as  follows:  "The  commission  has  come  to  some  of 
us,  in  a  heavenly  vision,  that  God  is  preparing  the  Christian  women  of 
this  country  to  wield  a  weapon  in  our  warfare  against  the  liquor  traffic 
which  will  be  by  far  the  most  effectual  weapon  God  has  yet  given  us." 

In  1881,  a  committee  on  'Tranchise,"  consisting  of  Frances  Willard, 
Mary  Livermore  and  J.  Ellen  Foster,  was  appointed.  In  1882  the  de- 
partment of  Franchise  was  formally  adopted,  with  Mary  Clement 
Leavitt  as  national  superintendent.  Mrs.  Zerelda  Wallace  succeeded 
Mrs.  Leavitt  in  1883,  and  following  her,  the  national  superintendents 
have  been:  Rev,  Anna  H.  Shaw,  Mrs.  Theresa  A.  Jenkins,  Dr.  Louise 
C.  Purington,  Miss  Marie  C.  Brehm,  Mrs.  Ella  S.  Stewart,  Dr.  Maude 
Mcllvain  Sanders  and  Mrs.  Deborah  Knox  Livingston. 

With  the  complete  enfranchisement  of  women,  the  department  of 
Suffrage  was  merged  into  that  of  Christian  Citizenship,  and  led  by  the 
inspiring  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  director,  Mrs.  Deborah  Knox  Livings- 
ton suffrage  sentiment  in  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  swept  onward.  "We  have 
come  to  the  day  of  a  new  dream,"  said  Mrs.  Livingston,  "the  dream 
of  a  better  America,  in  which  democracy  is  a  religion,  rather  than  a 
quasi-fiction  of  government;  in  which  love  of  country  is  a  supreme  pas- 
sion; in  which  the  duties  of  citizenship  are  co-equal  with  the  privileges 
of  citizens.  The  W.  C.  T.  U.,  because  of  its  methods  of  organization 
and  the  personnel  of  its  membership,  seems  to  be  the  best  equipped  of  all 
national  organizations  of  women  to  make  American  citizens  of  our 
foreign-born  women.  In  our  ranks  are  ewlisted  professional  women, 
industrial  W9men,  and  women  of  the  farm.  In  other  words,  our  mem- 
bership is  drawn  from  all  classes  of  society. 

One  of  the  most  fascinating  stories  of  the  development  of  'the 
woman  movement'  is  that  of  woman's  struggle  for  educational 
privileges  and  advantages  on  equal  terms  with  men.  One  hundred 
years  ago   the   term   'higher   education'   had   no   meaning   for  women. 

165 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


Even  in  Colonial  days  the  grammar  and  elementary  school  were  in- 
tended only  for  the  education  of  boys.  Seventy-five  years  ago  there 
was  not  a  single  college  for  women  in  our  country,  and  not  one  of  the 
men's  colleges  had  opened  its  doors  to  the  other  sex.  In  Northampton, 
Mass.,  to-day  the  seat  of  the  largest  college  for  girls  in  our  Republic, 
it  was  voted  at  a  town  meeting  in  the  early  eighteenth  century  that  no 
town  money  be  appropriated  for  the  education  of  girls.  Now  more 
girls  than  boys  graduate  from  public  schools,  and  the  tremendous  growth 
in  the  last  seventy-five  years  in  the  education  of  women  is  one  of  the 
marvels  of  the  woman  movement." 

Many  readers  of  this  history  have  been  privileged  to  hear  Frances 
Willard  tell  this  incident  of  her  early  days  on  the  farm.  She  revelled 
in  it  with  keen  delight!  "When  I  was  a  child,"  she  said,  "my  father 
returned  one  night  to  Forest  Home  in  Wisconsin.  Sitting  by  my 
mother's  chair,  I  listened  to  their  conversation.  With  a  good  deal  of 
spirit,  father  told  of  the  encouraging  news  about  Neal  Dow  and  the 
fight  for  prohibition  in  Maine.  He  ended  by  saying,  'I  wonder  if  poor, 
rum-cursed  Wisconsin  will  ever  get  a  law  like  that?'  I  was  much  im- 
pressed as  I  saw  mother  silently  rocking  in  her  dear  old  chair  before 
she  gently  said,  'Yes,  Josiah,  there'll  be  such  a  law  all  over  the  land 
some  day  when  women  vote.'  Father  looked  at  mother  with  astonish- 
ment, and  in  a  keen  rather  sarcastic  voice  said,  'And  pray,  how  will 
you  arrange  it  so  that  women  shall  vote?'  Mother's  chair  moved  a 
little  faster  as  she  looked  into  the  flickering  flames  of  the  grate  and 
slowly  answered,  'Weil,  Josiah,  I  say  to  you  as  the  Apostle  Paul  said  to 
his  jailer,  "You  have  put  us  into  prison,  we  being  Romans,  and  you 
must  come  and  take  us  out!"  '  " 

At  the  age  of  twenty-one,  Oliver  Willard,  the  only  son  of  the 
Willard  family,  went  with  his  father  to  cast  his  first  ballot.  Frances, 
then  a  girl  of  sixteen,  watching  from  the  window  with  her  younger 
sister,  their  departure  to  the  polls,  turned  to  Mary,  and  with  an  ache 
in  her  heart,  said:  "Don't  you  wish  we  could  go  with  them  when  we 
are  old  enough?  Don't  we  love  our  country  just  as  well  as  they  do?" 
and  Mary,  just  a  little  scared  said,  "Yes,  of  course  we  ought.  Don't 
I  know  that?  But  you  mustn't  tell  a  soul — not  mother,  even,  or  we 
should  be  called  strong-minded." 

Working  in  its  own  way,  but  in  co-operation  with  other  women's 
organizations,  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  brought  conviction  on  this  controversial 

166 


The    Nineteenth    Amendment 

subject  to  many  conservative  home,  church  and  missionary  women  vi^ho 
turned  their  backs,  as  well  as  their  consciences,  on  the  seemingly  "bold 
advocates"  of  "woman's  rights." 

The  wonderful  spirit  that  dominated  them  is  illustrated  by  this 
serio-comic  incident:  The  Indiana  W.  C.  T.  U.  appealed  to  the  state 
legislature  for  a  law  that  would  protect  the  young  from  the  ravages  of 
the  liquor  traffic.  This  petition  was  signed  by  20,000  influential 
women,  including  the  wives  and  mothers  of  many  substantial  men  of  the 
state.  In  a  tirade  against  the  bill  that  was  introduced,  the  youngest 
member  of  the  house  vehemently  said:  "I  understand  that  this  bill  is 
backed  by  a  petition  of  20,000  women;  but,  gentlemen,  the  signatures 
of  20,000  women  in  this  state  mean  no  more  to  us  than  the  signatures 
of  20,000  mice."  This  egotistical  dictum  go  stirred  Indiana's  great- 
heart,  Mrs.  Zerelda  Wallace,  the  step-mother  of  Gen.  Lew  Wallace, 
author  of  "Ben  Hur,"  that  she  decided  to  devote  her  life  to  bettering 
the  political  standing  of  women. 

In  the  old  Colonial  days  it  was  New  England  that  set  the  nation's 
pace.  It  is  well  to  recall  the  fact  that  the  pilgrim  foremothers,  as 
well  as  the  pilgrim  forefathers,  were  founders  of  a  race.  Westward 
their  descendants  went.  Beyond  the  Rockies,  and  in  the  Middle  West 
the  women  who  helped  the  men  conquer  the  wilderness  were  chivalrous- 
ly given  a  voice  in  the  affairs  of  state.  Certain  western  states  began 
to  show  the  benefits  coming  from  woman  suffrage,  and  the  women  of 
the  east  slowly  learned  that  "a  force  which  when  indirect,  is  helpful, 
will  be  more  helpful  when  it  becomes  direct;  for  the  most  benignant 
and  pervasive  force  in  human  life  will  not  change  in  character  when 
to  its  indirect  power  it  adds  the  concentrated  force  of  woman's  ballot." 

In  the  northwest,  one  of  the  earliest  leading  suffragists  and  white 
ribboners  was  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Boynton  Harbert,  editor  of  the  "Woman's 
Kingdom"  in  the  Chicago  Inter-Ocean.  Later,  Miss  Mary  Allen  West 
and  Mrs.  Susanna  M,  D,  Fry  were  live  wires. 

Miss  Jane  Addams,  the  noted  sociologist  and  the  distinguished 
head  of  Hull  House,  in  speaking  a  decade  ago,  declared:  "At  the 
beginning  of  civilization,  women  were  the  originators  of  some  of  the 
greatest  trades.  The  great  trades  which  women  discovered  are  agricul- 
ture, building,  architecture,  spinning,  weaving,  sewing,  tanning,  pottery 
and  cooking.  It  was  not  by  accident  that  the  primitive  women  stumbled 
upon  the  paths  leading  to  civilization.     Necessity  spurred  their  minds 

167 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


to  activity.  Their  physical  weakness  and  offspring  kept  them  from  the 
chase,  but  their  minds  were  illumined  instead  by  the  discoveries  which 
they  made." 

When  Harriet  Martineau  visited  America  in  1840,  she  put  it  upon 
record  that  she  found  but  seven  employments  open  to  women,  namely, 
teaching,  needlework,  keeping  boarders,  washing  for  the  operatives  in 
cotton  mills,  typesetting,  work  in  bookbinderies,  and  household  service. 

Miss  Addams,  in  1912,  optimistically  viewed  the  suffrage  situation 
when  she  said:  "Whether  or  not  the  voters  in  a  given  community  ex- 
press themselves  in  favor  of  equal  suffrage  cannot  impede  its  progress. 
The  future  historian  will  merely  be  able  to  read  whether  or  not  the 
voters  in  that  city  or  state  were  at  a  given  mom.ent  sensitive  to  the 
democratic  movement  of  that  time  or  indifferent  to  it.  The  forward  pro- 
gress of  the  world  is  a  steam  roller  which  only  the  blind  are  willing  to 
oppose."  In  rural  districts  as  well  as  in  the  large  cities  women  did 
their  "bit."  In  a  certain  community  in  the  conservative  state  of  Maine 
the  voteless  women  were  in  the  habit  of  picking  blueberries  in  hot  July 
weather,  to  earn  money  with  which  to  pay  their  husband's  poll  taxes. 
These  women  remind  one  of  the  cheerful  giver  of  holy  writ.  Cheerful  in 
that  connection  really  means  hilarious.  How  still  more  hilarious  today 
are  these  dutiful  wives  as  they  use  some  of  their  blueberry  money  to 
pay  their  own  poll  taxes! 

In  1880,  at  the  invitation  of  the  Brooklyn  W.  C.  T.  U.,  Rev.  Henry 
Ward  Beecher,  made  his  first  speech  in  favor  of  woman  suffrage.  He 
said  in  part,  "It's  a  thundering  fact!  I  am  ashamed  to  say  that  while 
enthusiasm  is  never  wanting  on  the  part  of  the  saloon-keepers  for  the 
work  of  the  devil,  we  never  can  get  up  enthusiasm  for  the  w^ork  of  the 
churches.  Instead  of  giving  out  the  heat  of  a  common  flame,  they  are 
like  scattered  brands,  but  the  enemy  is  organized.  It  is  a  shame  and  an 
outrage  that  it  should  be  so,  but  it  is.  I  have  something  new  to  say 
about  women.  I  am  going  to  announce  a  heresy.  For  the  cause  of 
religion,  morality  and  temperance,  I  plead  the  right  of  women  to  vote." 

Later,  at  a  W.  C.  T.  U.  meeting  arranged  for  Frances  Willard  in 
Plymouth  Church,  Mr.  Beecher  presided.  He  escorted  Miss  Willard  to 
the  platform,  and  after  introducing  her,  asked  if  he  might  sit  beside  his 
wife  in  the  audience,  saying,  "I  almost  never  get  the  chance  to  do  so  in 
this  church,  you  see."  When  Miss  Willard  had  finished,  he  walked 
up  the  steps  smiling,  pointing  toward  the  lecturer  as  he  came,  and  then 

168 


The    Nineteenth    Amendment 

turning  to  the  audience  said  in  his  dramatic  way,  "And  yet — she  cannot 
vote!    Aren't  you  ashamed,  men,  that  this  should  be?" 

In  recounting  this  remarkable  episode,  Miss  Willard  said:  '1 
had  spoken  strongly  in  favor  of  prohibition  as  the  best  method  of  deal- 
ing with  the  liquor  traffic,  and  Mr.  Beecher  said  distinctly,  'Not  a  word 
has  been  uttered  but  that  we  all  know  to  be  just  and  true  and  right.' 
His  first  temperance  speech  when  he  was  an  Amherst  collegian,  was  in 
favor  of  a  law  against  the  liquor  traffic.  After  these  tv\'o  sermons,  in 
a  sentence  he  proceeded  to  make  a  collection  speech  that  outdid  all  I  ever 
heard  elsewhere  for  wit  and  wisdom.  Of  course,  everybody  stayed 
through,  and  the  baskets  came  back  actually  full — I  have  never  seen 
them  thus  except  on  that  occasion." 

As  early  as  1883,  Rev.  Joseph  Cook  of  Boston  declared  himself 
in  favor  of  woman  suffrage,  and  made  this  revolutionary  statement: 
"The  five  great  powers  of  modern  society,"  he  said,  "are  not  England, 
Russia,  Austria,  Germany  and  France,  but  the  parlor,  the  pulpit,  the 
press,  politics,  and  the  police."  And  as  the  leader  of  these  marshalled 
powers,  he  emphasized  the  parlor,  which  might,  if  it  would,  control 
all  the  rest. 

In  one  of  her  early  lecture  tours,  Mary  Livermore,  after  giving 
a  logical  suffrage  address  to  a  large  audience,  talked  with  an  intelligent 
brewer  who  said:  "When  you  give  women  the  right  to  vote,  a  prohib- 
itory amendment  is  sure  to  follow,  and  women  haven't  a  grain  of 
sense  on  the  temperance  question.  They  are  crazy  fanatics  on  that  sub- 
ject, and  they  will  not  stop  till  the  whole  liquor  business  is  destroyed 
root  and  branch."  After  the  amendment  bill  for  suffrage  was  sub- 
mitted, to  the  states,  the  liquor  organizations  spent  thousands  of  dollars 
to  defeat  it  at  the  polls.  In  secret  circulars  sent  to  their  henchmen, 
the  distillers  and  brewers  emphatically  declared  that  women,  if  given 
the  ballot,  would  vote  out  the  saloons  and  utterly  destroy  the  liquor 
business. 

Just  as  in  the  campaigns  for  prohibition,  so  in  the  public  discus- 
sions for  woman  suffrage,  argument  was  met  with  argument.  "How 
much  simpler  it  would  be,"  declared  Anna  Shaw,  "if  the  women,  in- 
stead of  spending  all  their  time  trying  to  boost  up  the  men  could  go 
to  the  ballot-box  and  vote  like  men — exactly  as  the  women  In  the 
parliament  of  Finland  have  been  able,  not  only  to  influence  the  Finnish 
parliament,  but  to  cast  their  votes  in  the  interests  of  the  prohibition 

169 


Women    Torc  h- b  barer  s 


measures  which  the  women  of  Finland  everywhere  desired  to  have 
passed.  Talk  to  women  about  keeping  the  children  off  the  street! 
What  can  a  man  be  thinking  of  who  stands  out  in  the  street  and  look- 
ing over  across  the  street  sees  his  own  door  open  and  one  of  his  own 
children  putting  his  head  out,  and  then  stands  shooing  him  back,  saying 
'Go  back,  go  back  to  your  mother's  home;  don't  dare  to  come  out  on 
your  father's  street,  for  if  you  do  you  are  lost,  and  if  you  are  lost  ir 
isn't  your  father's  fault,  it  is  your  mother's  fault  for  letting  you  out.' 
Now,  that  is  the  cry  which  we  women  all  over  this  country  have  heard. 
If  the  men  could  make  the  streets  safe  and  clean  without  women  and 
still  will  not  do  it,  then  the  women  under  God  are  bound  to  go  out 
and  help  the  men  to  make  them  clean,  for  if  there  is  any  right  which 
a  woman  has  under  God,  it  is  the  right  to  protect  her  children  from  any 
form  of  degradation  and  vice  legalized,  or  unlegalized, 

"God  laid  upon  women  the  obligation  of  motherhood  and  child  rear- 
ing. It  is  the  business  of  mothers  to  rise  up  and  protest  against  the  for- 
ces which  will  prevent  the  mother  from  protecting  her  child.  If  there 
is  any  crime  greater  than  another  perpetrated  by  a  great  Christian 
country,  it  is  the  curse  of  protecting  the  business  which  destroys  all 
the  life's  work  of  a  mother.  It  is  the  right,  and  ought  to  be  the  pur- 
pose of  every  woman  of  this  country  to  demand  every  ounce  of  power 
which  will  enable  her  to  do  for  her  children  the  very  best  and  noblest 
service.  The  distiller  is  armed  with  the  ballot,  the  brewer  is  armed 
with  the  ballot,  the  saloonkeeper  is  armed  with  the  ballot,  the  bar- 
tender is  armed  with  the  ballot,  the  drunkard — the  male  drunkard — is 
armed  with  the  ballot.  The  home  maker,  the  child  rearer,  is  powerless 
against  such  a  foe  without  the  ballot  which  determines  political  condi- 
tions in  this  country,  and  it  is  the  crime  of  our  day." 

Among  the  young  women  who,  in  the  early  years,  believed  in  woman 
suffrage  was  Mary  E.  McDowell.  Miss  McDowell  had  the  courage  to 
organize  W.  C.  T.  U.  work  for  young  women  in  Evanston  and  Chicago, 
and  she  also  gave  social  prestige  to  the  evening  gatherings  over  which 
she  presided  often — in  her  parents'  hospitable  home.  Later,  Miss 
McDowell  became  the  head  of  the  Chicago  University  Settlement,  and 
ever  since  has  been  a  well-known  power  in  the  civic  life  of  the  met- 
ropolis. In  all  the  reforms  she  has  instituted,  she  has  upheld  the  prin- 
ciples of  a  white-ribboner.     Soon  after  starting  the  settlement  work  in 

170 


The    Nineteenth    Amendment 

the  stock  yards  district,  she  instituted  measures  for  reducing  the  death 
rate  of  the  babies  of  the  neighborhood. 

It  is  interesting  to  see  the  influence  woman's  ballot  had  in  giving 
Miss  McDowell  the  victory  in  a  notable  campaign.  For  nearly  twenty 
years  she  fought  against  the  city's  dumping  its  garbage  into  the  deep 
holes  made  in  her  neighborhood  by  excavating  clay  for  the  manufacture 
of  brick.  The  owners  of  the  "clay  holes"  received  large  incomes  by 
renting  these  "holes'  to  the  city.  Garbage  by  the  hundreds  of  tons 
was  dumped  into  them  and  little  ones  died  like  flies  from  the  diseases 
bred  from  the  decomposing  offal.  The  impetus  of  the  struggle  against 
the  city's  system  of  handling  garbage  carried  Miss  McDowell  to 
Europe,  which  she  visited  in  1911  to  study  European  systems  of  the 
disposal  of  city  refuse.  For  two  years  after  her  return  she  conducted 
a  city-wide  campaign  for  the  scientific  study  of  garbage  disposal  by 
municipal  commission.  When  the  state  of  Illinois  gave  women  the 
ballot,  she  won  her  fight  and  the  commission  was  appointed  and  made 
its  survey.  Miss  McDowell  is  now  the  City  Commissioner  of  Public 
Welfare — the  only  woman  member  of  the  mayor's  cabinet.  This  is 
a  department  of  municipal  social  service.  In  speaking  on  the  subject  of 
garbage,  this  story  wittily  reflecting  on  the  aristocratic  "Boston-ese," 
is  one  Miss  McDowell  enjoys  telling:  A  recent  arrival  in  a  city  of 
the  middle  west,  a  lady  from  Boston,  entered  a  leading  emporium  and 
asked  for  "a  refuse  chalice."  The  salesman,  nothing  daunted,  imme- 
diately handed  her  a  garbage  pail.  "How  did  you  know  what  the  cus- 
tomer wanted?"  later  he  was  asked.  "Oh,"  he  replied  laughingly,  "I 
saw  that  she 'must  have  come  from  Boston,  for  I  once  lived  there  long 
enough  to  learn  the  refined  language  of  the  Back  Bay  district." 

In  the  later  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  many  victories  for 
women  were  seen.  Catharine  Waugh  McCuUoch,  of  Evanston,  Illi- 
nois, the  legal  advisor  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  is  a  Master  in 
Chancery.  Four  times,  each  time  for  a  period  of  two  years,  the  judges 
of  the  Superior  Court  have  given  Mrs.  McCuUoch  this  important  ap- 
pointment. It  will  be  recalled  that  she  was  the  first  woman  in  the 
United  States  to  win  an  election  as  Justice  of  the  Peace.  Mrs.  McCul- 
loch  strongly  urges  W.  C.  T.  U.  women  to  "crusade  in  the  court  room." 
"The  white-ribbon,"  she  says,  "strikes  terror  to  evil  doers!"  Mary 
Bartelme  is  the  first  woman  to  be  elected  a  judge  of  the  Circuit  Court 
of  Cook  County,  Illinois — a  district  of  'three  million  people  and  the 

171 


Women    Torc  h  -  be  arer  s 


largest  that  ever  elected  a  woman  to  such  an  office.  In  Ohio,  a  promi- 
nent woman  lawyer,  Florence  Allen,  has  been  elected  a  judge  of  the 
Superior  Court.    These  women  judges  co-operate  with  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 

"When  we  women  are  fully  enfranchised,"  said  Mrs.  McCuUoch, 
"we  will  elect  judges  and  clerks  who  are  true  to  their  duty.  If  we  had 
one  honest  and  intelligent  judge  in  every  precinct  of  every  community 
in  the  United  States,  fraud  would  be  impossible.  When  the  women 
have  the  vote  all  over  this  country,  those  people  who  have  exploited 
child  workers,  those  who  are  cornering  the  food  markets  when  many 
are  starving,  those  who  break  laws  made  to  safeguard  the  community, 
in  that  day  the  great  army  of  women  voters  will  be  like  unto  an  army 
of  Jehovah." 

One  of  the  good  W.  C.  T.  U,  women  who  served  on  juries  in 
Washington  territory,  and  always  got  complimented  by  the  judge  for 
doing  her  duty,  has  sent  her  fees  to  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  treasury 
— a  good  example  to  follow! 

Mrs.  Thomas  Edison,  the  daughter  of  an  original  Ohio  Crusader 
and  of  Lewis  Miller  of  Chautauqua  fame,  recalls  the  days  when  her 
mother,  with  other  dauntless  women,  visited  the  saloons  and  pleaded 
with  the  men  to  close  their  doors.  They  were  subjected  to  insult  and 
had  buckets  of  water  thrown  over  them,  "When  I  look  back  to  those 
days,"  Mrs.  Edison  writes,  "and  note  the  growth  of  our  great  cause,  I 
cannot  be  discouraged.  I  am  proud  to  remember  that  my  father  was 
one  of  the  pioneer  advocates  of  woman  suffrage." 

Julia  C.  Lathrop,  first  director  of  the  Federal  Children's  Bureau, 
said:  "Not  so-called  anti-suffragists,  but  the  liquor  interests  are  the 
worst  opponents  of  woman  suffrage.  Over  forty  years  of  education 
and  agitation  by  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  helped  to  give  this  nation  a  Federal 
Child  Bureau." 

The  contagion  of  the  ballot  for  women  reached  even  the  children. 
In  a  state  amendment  campaign,  a  manly  Loyal  Temperance  Legion  boy 
distributed  ballots  and  leaflets.  He  saw  the  mother-hearted  leader  weep 
when  brewers  and  distillers  won,  and  the  flag  of  our  country  protected 
their  places  of  business.  Charlie  was  not  a  mere  looker-on — he  was 
in  it,  and  was  himself  a  part  of  this  battle  for  the  protection  of  the 
home  instead  of  the  saloon.  Going  with  his  little  sister  to  their  leader, 
he  said  earnestly,  "Please  don't  feel  so  sorry.  When  I  grow  up  I'll 
vote  the  saloons  away,  and  Mary  will  vote,  too." 

172 


The    Nineteenth    Amendment 

Many  leaders,  interviewed  by  politicians  seeking  office  are  being 
asked  what  women  voters  most  want.  In  substance,  the  answer  received 
is  one  suggested  by  Mrs.  Ella  A.  Boole:  "If  you  want  the  women  to 
vote  for  your  party,  give  them  a  platform  they  can  endorse  and  candi- 
dates for  whom  they  do  not  have  to  apologize."  After  four  years  of 
suffrage,  many  women  previously  conservative,  are  so  happily  at  home 
in  the  use  of  the  ballot,  that  observers  are  reminded  of  that  irresistibly 
funny  little  picture  that  two  decades  ago  went  the  rounds  of  the  illus- 
trated papers.  It  was  a  chicken  with  a  little  of  the  shell  he  had  just 
left  still  clinging  to  his  back,  and  looking  down  at  the  broken  prison 
from  which  he  had  just  pecked  his  way  out,  he  was  made  to  say  with  a 
great  gravity,  "Nobody  can  ever  convince  me  that  I've  been  in  there." 

In  Illinois,  in  the  first  encounter  of  white  ribboners  with  the  liquor 
trade — after  women  were  given  the  ballot — the  victorious  result  was 
announced  in  these  rhythmic  lines:  "Mary  had  a  little  vote.  That 
roamed  the  state  about ;  And  everywhere  that  vote  went  in,  John  Barley- 
corn went  out."  Now,  women  voters  in  both  states  and  nation  are 
giving  to  the  lawless  liquor  element  more  unwelcome  information  about 
"Mary."     There  is  nothing  obscure  about  this  versified  challenge: 

Mary  has  a  little  vote 
That  keeps  our  nation  dry; 
It  jumps  right  over  party  lines 
Ask  nullifiers  why. 

It  serves  America  so  well — 

It  "follows  her^'  you  know — 

That  nullifiers  sadly  learn 

Where  Mary's  vote  will  go. 
The  gratitude  of  W.  C.  T.  U.  women  toward  brotherly  men  in  pro- 
fessional and  business  life,  who  have  given  them  the  ballot,  is  bound- 
less. It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  Petruchio,  that  famous 
creation  of  Shakespeare,  is  still  at  large.  He  said  of  his  wife:  "She  is 
my  goods,  my  chattels.  She  is  my  house,  my  household  furniture,  my 
field,  my  barn — my  anything."  Today,  the  man  like-minded  with 
Petruchio,  is  the  unscrupulous  politician — the  ''masculinity  complex." 

Susan  B.  Anthony,  in  her  later  years  when  asked  if  she  were  not 
tired  of  shaking  hands,  answered  that  she  was  not  more  so  than  when 
there  were  no  hands  to  shake.    This  pathetic  and  characteristic  state- 

173 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


ment  of  a  warrior-soul  is  a  revealing  one.  It  visualizes  the  hardships, 
the  controversies,  the  weariness  of  body,  if  not  of  soul,  of  the  long 
struggle  for  woman's  emancipation. 

When,  in  the  past,  problems  pressed  and  perplexed  white-ribboners, 
they  found  that  the  only  way  out  was  to  advance.  Going  forward 
into  the  dark,  light  has  come.  Their  example  is  commended  to  those 
who  now  without  experience,  are  saying,  "What  shall  we  do  who  carry 
the  fray  for  civilization  on  today?"  Women  in  public  life,  delegates 
to  recent  national  political  conventions,  many  of  them  white-ribboners, 
have  amazed  old  school  politicians  by  their  high  purposes.  The  spirit 
of  the  marching  mothers  of  the  Crusade  have  been  in  them.  Take  the 
testimony  of  a  noted  woman  author  who  gives  a  vivid  account  of  the 
Women  who  assembled  for  conference  at  one  of  the  political  conventions. 
This  is  the  pen  picture  in  brief: 

"The  women  delegates  of  the  north  and  the  south  fighting  a  common 
enemy  chanted,  'In  the  beauty  of  the  lilies  Christ  was  born  across  the 
sea,  with  a  glory  in  his  bosom  which  transfigures  you  and  me.  As  he 
died  to  make  men  holy  let  us  die  to  make  men  free,  His  cause  is  march- 
ing on.'  Then  with  zealous  inspiration  a  woman  went  down  on  her 
knees  and  lifted  her  voice  in  prayer.  *God  give  us  strength,'  she  plead. 
A  younger  woman  took  up  her  word.  Woman  after  woman  followed 
as  men,  veterans  of  many  a  political  campaign,  crowded  into  the  door- 
way, stricken  by  wonder  at  this  most  amazing  spectacle.  'If  the  women 
take  politics  this  way,'  a  former  state  governor  whispered,  'we  might 
as  well  go  back  to  our  farm.  We  cannot  stay  in  the  game  with  them 
on  these  terms.'  'It's  a  children's  crusade,'  said  a  great  lawyer.  'They 
are  setting  out  for  a  Jerusalem  of  faith  without  even  a  leader.  They 
may  not  get  there,  but  their  going  will  light  the  torch  for  those  who 
will.'  Such  must  have  been  the  spirit  of  those  women  who  went 
through  Ohio  years  gone  by,  kneeling  in  the  streets  before  the  saloon. 
Out  of  their  praying  came  two  Constitutional  amendments,  the 
Eighteenth  and  Nineteenth."  Is  there  not  great  reason  for  rejoicing 
that  over  the  women  of  this  republic  a  great  wave  of  political  crusading 
fervor  is  sweeping? 

Mrs.  Margaret  B.  Piatt,  who  has  given,  in  Washington  by  the 
Atlantic,  and  in  Washington  by  the  Pacific,  superb  white  ribbon  serv- 
ice, asks  these  significant  questions:  "What  manner  of  mothers  shall 
tomorrow  give  us?    Are  changed  conditions  to  bring  us  changed  ideals 

174 


The    Nineteenth    Amendment 

of  womanhood?  Will  the  man  of  the  future  as  he  searches  back  in  the 
mind's  treasures  to  the  throne-room  of  his  childhood,  find  in  the  chief 
place  there,  one  in  true  womanly  guise,  gentle  and  tender,  pure  and 
loving,  yet  clothed  with  dignity  and  strength  and  courage,  fully  able 
to  guide  the  high-strung,  youthful  spirits  'along  life's  treacherous  high- 
way?' Will  the  words  of  God  and  the  evening  prayer  at  mother's  knee 
linger  as  sweet  perfume  in  memory's  chalice?  Will  he  say  with  an- 
other: 'I  see  you  oft,  in  my  dreams  at  night,  and  vou  whisper  soft, 
"My  child,  do  right."  '  " 

Was  it  not  in  God's  plan  that  woman,  the  born  conservator  of  the 
home,  should  prove  the  Nemesis  of  the  arch  enemy  of  the  home,  alcohol  ? 


175 


CHAPTER  IX 
Our  Golden  Jubilee 

In  this  Jubilee  Year,  this  year  of  our  Lord,  1924,  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 
gratefully  chronicles  a  golden  history,  a  golden  present  and  prophesies 
a  golden  future.  A  half  century  ago,  in  1874,  the  National  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  was  organized.  Today  it  is  a  mighty  host 
with  a  membership  of  half  a  million  and  a  large  following  of  co-operat- 
ing, home-loving  women.  In  the  last  fifty  or  one  hundred  years,  how 
wonderfully  the  point  of  view  in  regard  to  the  liquor  traffic  has 
changed !  An  incident  that  occurred  during  the  administration  of  John 
Quincy  Adams,  President  of  the  United  States,  illustrates  this.  In 
1825,  while  Mr.  Adams  was  campaigning  one  day  near  Worcester, 
Massachusetts,  greatly  to  his  surprise  there  came  to  meet  him  and  his 
mounted  escort,  a  winsome  young  matron,  who  in  order  to  reach  him, 
had  ridden  sixty  miles  on  horseback.  Courteously  addressing  the  Presi- 
dent, this  young  mother  earnestly  plead  that  for  the  sake  of  her  husband 
and  three  young  children  he  would  work  for  the  outlawing  of  the  liquor 
traffic.  With  characteristic  chivalry,  Mr.  Adams  told  the  anxious 
mother  how  much  he  appreciated  her  solicitude  but  said  most  emphat- 
ically, "Madam,  what  you  ask  is  an  impossibility.  I  might  as  well  expect 
to  legislate  against  the  winds  and  the  tides  as  to  try  to  prohibit  the  legal- 
ized liquor  traffic."  This  was  the  sincere  opinion  of  a  President  who 
was  one  of  the  most  able  among  American  statesmen  of  the  old  school — 
a  lavyyer  and  a  diplomat.  Today,  a  man  of  such  a  mental  make-up 
could  not  be  elected  United  States  President.  The  "impossible"  has 
been  accomplished.  In  1874,  a  multitude  of  devoted,  daring  women 
from  all  over  the  land  came  to  the  aid  of  the  children  and  children's 
children  of  that  devoted,  daring  mother.  Even  the  "winds  and  the  tides" 
of  the  legalized  liquor  traffic  had  to  obey  the  behest  of  these  crusading 
women.  The  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  this  golden  Jubilee  Year  is  patriotically 
declaring,  "Allegiance  to  the  Constitution" — the  Constitution  of  a  gov- 
ernment that  has  outlawed  the  legalized  liquor  traffic.  White-ribbon 
women  also  rejoice  in  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  whose  deci- 
sions have  ever  been  in  favor  of  sobriety  and  justice;  and  in  a  United 
States  Congress  that  by  a  large  majority  is  strong  for  the  observance 
and  the  enforcement  of  law.  One  hundred  and  twenty  million  free 
people  are  benefited  by  Federal  prohibition.     Nine-tenths  of  the  homes 

176 


GENERAL  OFFICERS  NATIONAL  W.  C.  T.  U.,   1924 

Anna  A.  Gordon,  Pres.;  (in  center).  Ella  A.  Boole,  Vice-Pres.;  (at  top). 
Frances  P.  Parks,  Cor.  Sec;  (left  to  right).  Margaret  C.  Munns,  Treas.; 
Elizabeth  P.  Anderson,  Rec.  Sec;  Sara  H.  Hoge,  Ass't.  Rec  Sec. 


Our    Golden    Jubilee 


are  enjoying  unprecedented  prosperity.  The  President  of  the  United 
States,  the  majority  of  governors,  and  a  large  per  cent  of  the  electorate 
are  supporting  the  law  enforcement  program  of  the  Federal  Prohibition 
Commissioner.  Surely  never  before  has  the  vision  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 
been  so  fully  realized.  In  the  customs  of  society  and  in  the  laws  of  the 
land  the  Crusaders'  dream  of  fifty  years  ago,  is  becoming  a  reality. 

In  1919,  in  preparation  for  the  year  of  Jubilee,  1924,  the  Na- 
tional W.  C.  T.  U.  entered  upon  a  five  year  intensive  drive  for  money 
and  members.  It  was  a  noble  resolve,  heroically  carried  out.  The 
story,  in  outline,  follows:  It  was  in  1915,  at  the  national  convention 
held  in  Seattle,  Washington,  that  the  national  president,  Anna  Gordon, 
introduced  the  plan  for  a  Jubilee  celebration.  "In  1924,"  she  said,  "will 
come  the  Jubilee  Year  of  the  National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union.  I  recommend  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  lay  founda- 
tion plans  for  a  fitting  observance  of  the  fiftieth  year  of  our  organiza- 
tion— plans  that  shall  include  the  raising  of  a  thank-offering  Jubilee 
Fund.  By  request,  Miss  Gordon  appointed  the  following  committee: 
Mrs.  Deborah  Knox  Livingston,  Mrs.  Lenna  Lowe  Yost,  Mrs.  Paul 
Raymond,  Mrs.  William  F.  McDowell,  and  Mrs.  C.  P.  Lindsay.  In 
1918,  Mrs.  Livingston,  chairman  of  the  committee,  in  consultation  with 
the  national  general  officers,  having  recommended  a  campaign  for  a 
million  dollars  and  a  million  members,  it  was  decided  to  begin  at  once 
the  financial  drive.  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Perkins,  of  Michigan,  was  invited 
to  come  to  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  headquarters  as  the  executive  secre- 
tary for  the  intensive  campaign. 

Mrs.  Perkins  co-operated  with  the  national  treasurer,  Mrs.  Mar- 
garet C.  Munns,  the  state,  county,  and  local  key-women;  the  ten  na- 
tional field  representatives,  as  well  as  with  the  ten  members  of  the 
National  Jubilee  Committee.  A  quota  of  Jubilee  money  to  be  raised, 
based  on  membership,  was  given  to  each  state,  the  time  limit  for  all 
being  from  March  20,  1919,  to  March  20,  1920.  The  budget  of 
$1,000,000  was  to  cover  the  following  activities:  Child  Welfare,  Health 
and  Social  Morality,  Americanization,  Women  in  Industry,  Education 
and  Information,  World  Prohibition,  Headquarters  (Evanston  and 
Washington),  Equipment  and  Repairs,  Field  Service  and  Administra- 
tion. In  the  forceful  campaign  for  the  Jubilee  Fund,  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Perkins  was  in  daily  consultation  with  the  resident  general  officers.  Ably 
assisted  by  the  editor  of  THE  UNION  SIGNAL,  she  issued  from 


177 


Women    To  rc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


week  to  week  through  the  official  organ,  informing,  strong,  convincing 
appeals. 

When  the  drive  for  a  million  dollars  approached  completeness,  the 
appeal  for  1,000,000  members  secured  the  right  of  way.  It  was  in 
the  spring  of  1920  that  the  national  corresponding  secretary,  Mrs. 
Parks,  who  ingeniously  sponsored  the  campaign  for  a  million  members 
in  1924,  first  sent  out  the  membership  campaign  plans.  This  Jubilee 
call  was  extended  to  every  mother,  every  teacher  and  every  church 
member.  "Alone,  we  can  do  little ;  united,  we  become  batteries  of 
power." 

"Be  a  million-aire,"  was  Mrs.  Parks'  appeal.  "Count  one,"  she  said. 
"You  need  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union!  and  the  Wom- 
an's Christian  Temperance  Union  needs  you!  You  need  the  W.  C. 
T.  U.  to  help  secure  the  high  type  of  education  in  your  community, 
state  and  nation ;  further  wise,  and  prevent  unwise,  legislation ;  awaken 
intelligent  enthusiasm  for  the  privileges  and  responsibilities  of  citizen- 
ship; uplift  and  protect  child  life;  meet  the  colossal  appeal  for  higher 
standards  of  social  morality  and  health ;  educate  public  sentiment  in 
reverence  for  law;  uphold  the  Eighteenth  Amendment.  The  W.  C. 
T.  U.  needs  you  to  help  emphasize  the  value  of  total  abstinence ;  build 
public  sentiment  for  the  retention  and  enforcement  of  national  and  state 
prohibition  laws;  enlist  the  aid  of  all  women  in  industrial  circles  in 
holding  prohibition ;  teach  foreign-born  mothers  the  value  of  total 
abstinence  and  to  understand  the  spirit  of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment; 
line  up  all  women  in  a  systematic  study  of  the  duties  of  citizenship ; 
publish  abroad  the  beneficial  results  of  prohibition ;  work  for  world 
peace,  purity  and  prohibition."  How  naturally  one  drive  helped  the 
other!  Experienced  workers  in  the  financial  drive  already  in  the  field 
found  that  it  was  dollars  received  that  made  it  possible  to  plan  con- 
ferences and  campaigns  in  which  more  dollars  came  in — this  time  each 
Jubilee  dollar  meaning  a  Jubilee  member. 

At  the  present  time,  through  the  energetic  co-operation  of  the  state 
W.  C.  T.  U.  presidents,  nearly  all  the  state  unions  have  completed 
their  assigned  quotas  for  the  Jubilee  Fund.  Each  state  retains  in  its 
treasury,  ten  per  cent  to  cover  the  cost  of  the  campaign.  From  the 
offices  of  the  corresponding  secretary  and  treasurer  there  have  been 
sent  out  each  year,  special  Jubilee  Fund  and  membership  appeal  leaf- 

178 


Our    Golden    Jubilee 


lets  that  have  caused  many  to  join  the  W.  C.  T,  U.  women  in  their 
March  of  Allegiance  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 

It  was  during  this  period  of  activity  that  an  ardent  advocate  of 
prohibition,  a  gentleman  from  Switzerland,  in  his  search  for  facts 
regarding  the  success  of  prohibition  in  the  United  States,  visited  Na- 
tional W.  C.  T.  U.  headquarters.  He  had  heard,  as  he  journeyed 
through  the  United  States,  wild  tales  of  the  utter  failure  of  pro- 
hibition and  even  from  some  of  its  friends,  a  doleful  prophecy  that 
it  probably  would  have  to  be  modiBed  because  it  could  not  be  en- 
forced. Of  course,  such  an  absurd  statement  had  been  denied  by 
advocates  of  prohibition  who  really  understood  the  situation  and  he 
had  been  informed  that  the  United  States  never  would  abandon  its 
dry  law.  But  the  contradictory  statement  troubled  him,  and  he  wanted 
some  indisputable  evidence  that  he  might  carry  back  to  his  home  to 
assure  his  people  that  America  had  not  really  backslid  in  the  fight 
for  its  anti-liquor  law.  In  the  course  of  his  tour  of  inspection  of  the 
headquarters  building,  he  came  to  the  room  of  the  National  W.  C. 
T.  U.  corresponding  secretary,  Mrs.  Frances  P.  Parks,  where  hangs 
the  wonderful  W.  C.  T.  U.  membership  map  which  strikingly  visual- 
izes the  local  unions  in  each  state — black  pins  showing  the  unions  of 
long-standing,  and  red  pins,  the  new  ones  that  have  been  organized 
since  the  inauguration  of  the  membership  campaign  of  1920.  In  some 
areas  the  pins  are  in  exceedingly  close  proximity. 

When  this  map  was  explained  to  him,  the  visitor  cried  with  en- 
thusiasm, "There  is  my  answer;  there  is  the  proof  I  long  have  sought 
that  America  will  not  give  up  prohibition ;  that  it  will  keep  right  on 
fighting  for  better  enforcement  and  never  let  go  of  what  it  has  won. 
This  map  shows  something  definite  and  tangible — it  is  proof  that 
the  women  of  your  nation  are  determined  to  keep  prohibition.  Now, 
I  can  return  to  my  home  and  tell  my  friends  that  I  KNOW  AMERI- 
CA WILL  NOT  GO  BACK."  Above  the  map  is  the  statement,  "Ten 
thousand  local  unions  are  engaged  in  the  Jubilee  membership  campaign 
to  mobilize  a  million  women.     This  map  shows  where  they  are." 

In  a  mid-west  town  of  probably  thirty-five  thousand  homes,  an 
active  union  decided  on  a  membership  drive.  At  four  in  the  mornrng 
on  the  appointed  day,  a  committee  appeared  at  the  local  dairies  and 
attached  to  the  milk  bottles  for  morning  delivery,  a  notification  that 
the  local  union  of  G would  that  day  open  a  membership  drive. 


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and  requested  a  courteous  reception  of  the  lady  who  would  follow  the 
milk  bottle.  Mrs.  Frances  Parks,  who  tells  this  story,  remarks  hap- 
pily, "Needless  to  say,  there  was  a  big  membership  increase  in  that 
union." 

A  festive,  colorful  feature  of  the  1923  membership  drive  was  its 
culminating  celebration  on  July  21,  of  the  birthday  anniversary  of 
the  national  president — a  red  letter  day.  Miss  Gordon  received  a 
delightful  surprise.  Twenty-five  thousand  new  "Allegiance"  members 
suddenly  appeared  in  her  office,  converting  it  into  a  bower  of  loveli- 
ness— thanks  to  Mrs.  Parks'  clever  decorative  scheme.  These  in- 
visible guests  were  impersonated  by  lovely  flowers,  floral  cards  and 
many  ingenious  state  devices.  The  "gather  the  posies  while  you  may" 
idea  originated  in  flowery  California.  Each  one  of  the  five  thousand 
new  members  from  California  (North)  is  still  represented  in  Miss 
Gordon's  office  by  a  beautiful  floral  card  bearing  her  name.  California 
(South)  sent  gay  little  "Jubilee  ladies" — tiny  dolls  in  gold  colored 
gowns,  one  for  each  local  union  that  had  measured  up  to  its  allotted 
increase  in  membership.  Iowa  sent  a  $2,375.00  corn  necklace — each 
grain  representing  a  new  member  who  had  paid  her  dollar  dues; 
Kansas,  a  huge  sunflower  with  a  thousand  autographed  petals ;  Georgia, 
an  exquisite  white  rose  with  local  union  names  on  its  petals.  There 
were  greetings  from  Maine  with  pine  tree  cone  decorations;  garden 
posies  from  Wisconsin;  rhododendrons  from  West  Washington;  sw^eet 
peas  from  Minnesota;  laurel  from  Connecticut;  wild  roses  from  Iowa 
and  North  Dakota;  golden-rod  from  Nebraska;  violets  from  Rhode 
Island ;  columbines  from  Colorado ;  bitter-root  from  Montana ;  blue- 
bonnets  from  Texas,  with  lilies,  marigolds,  carnations,  gladioli,  roses 
and  every  imaginable  flower  from  all  along  the  line,  and  best  of  all, 
there  was  a  soul  in  every  flower.  Evanston's  new  members  were  rep- 
resented by  a  large  cluster  of  the  L.  T.  L.  children's  flower,  the  field 
daisy. 

In  her  official  letter  of  grateful  appreciation,  the  national  president 
said:  "To  the  law-defying  element  in  our  republic,  this  riot  of  em- 
blematic W.  C.  T.  U.  activity  in  the  shape  of  an  imperishable  garland 
of  human  flowers  and  gracious  gardeners,  represents  the  challenge  of 
the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  to  continued  consecration 
to  its  holy  task  for  the  new  crusade — law  observance,  law  enforcement, 

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trained   citizenship   and    devotion   to   our   coming   citizens,    the   youth 
of  this  youthful  pilgrim  land." 

In  April,  1921,  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  through  its  general 
officers,  sent  a  proclamation  to  the  women  of  America.  It  was  an  earnest 
plea  for  co-operation.  "We  are  facing  a  great  crisis,"  the  national 
officers  said :  "Camouflaged  as  defenders  of  'personal  liberty'  the  friends 
and  adherents  of  the  outlawed  liquor  traffic  are  organizing  and  mass- 
ing their  forces  to  secure  the  annulment  of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment 
to  the  Federal  Constitution  by  weakening  the  enforcement  code  or 
securing  such  interpretations  of  the  law  as  shall  permit  the  manu- 
facture and  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors,  contrary  to  the  spirit  and 
letter  of  the  Amendment.  The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union,  with  its  500,000  members  who  are  engaged  in  twenty-five 
different  kinds  of  social,  economic,  and  moral  service — in  city  and  in 
town,  among  women  of  all  creeds,  classes,  and  color — is  now  engaged 
in  the  Jubilee  membership  campaign  to  mobilize  a  million  women. 
It  invites  every  woman  of  our  country  who  believes  in  the  broad- 
gauged  program  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  to  unite  with  us,  through  the 
local  union  nearest  her  home,  and  help  in  the  accomplishment  of  the 
great  tasks  just  ahead.  We  sincerely  hope  that  through  our  united 
efforts — for  God,  and  home,  and  every  land — the  womanhood  of 
America  may  stand  up  and  be  counted — together — as  well  as  one 
by  one." 

The  Jubilee  membership  plans  are  still  systematically  marshalling 
the  forces  to  unity  of  action.  Year  by  year,  in  spite  of  losses  by  death, 
a  fine  net  gain  has  been  reported  and  the  campaign  will  be  carried 
over  into  the  new  era.  In  these  manifold  far-reaching  ways  the  loyalty 
of  the  white-ribbon  women  was  manifested.  The  day  of  preparation 
was  over! 

"The  Year  of  Jubilee  has  come,"  triumphantly  and  hopefully  ex- 
claimed the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  president  in  her  message  given  at 
the  national  convention  held  in  Columbus,  Ohio.  "Let  us  make  it 
a  continent-wide  celebration — a  triumphal  march  'from  sea  to  shining 
sea,'  a  March  of  Allegiance  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
Let  us  visualize  to  this  nation  the  moral  power  of  united  womanhood, 
when  for  a  great  cause  its  patriotism  is  released."  Mrs.  Leila  A. 
Dillard,  president  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  Georgia,  gives  this  graphic 
picture  of  the  convention  as  it  celebrated  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of 

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the  Crusade.  "Oh  the  opening  day — a  processional — the  Marching 
Mothers  of  the  Crusade  of  1873,  ballotless  women  kneeling  and  pray- 
ing, despised  and  rejected  by  all  but  the  spiritually  discerning.  Then, 
the  triumphant  March  of  Allegiance  through  the  crowded  streets  of 
Columbus.  The  governor  of  the  state  and  other  officials  in  the  pro- 
cession, bands  playing,  magnificent  floats,  marching  of  thousands  of 
enfranchised  women  conscious  that  their  possession  of  the  ballot  meant 
that  never  again  would  there  be  a  return  to  the  old  days  when  the 
home  was  despoiled,  children  defrauded,  and  women's  hearts  broken." 

Through  The  Union  Signal  white  ribboners  have  learned  of  the 
gratifying  success  of  the  fifty  national-state  Jubilee  meetings  aided  at 
National  W.  C.  T.  U.  headquarters  by  the  up-to-date,  enthusiastrc, 
executive  secretary  of  field  service,  Mrs.  Jennie  M.  Kemp,  Miss 
Anna  A.  Gordon,  Mrs.  Ella  A.  Boole,  Mrs.  Margaret  C.  Munns, 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  P.  Anderson,  Mrs.  Ida  B.  Wise  Smith,  Mrs.  Mary 
Harris  Armor,  and  Mrs.  Laura  P.  Miller,  were  the  National  W.  C. 
T.  U.  speakers  whose  routes  were  planned  by  Mrs.  Kemp. 

Almost  unanimously  the  states  report  the  great  value  of  these 
meetmgs.  Interest  and  enthusiasm  were  aroused  and  notable  people 
participated.  The  publicity  was  unusually  good  and  many  new  mem- 
bers were  obtained.  State  presidents  say,  "Never  in  our  history  have 
we  ever  done  anything  which  has  advanced  our  organization  like  the 
Jubilee  meetings."  This  was  especially  true  in  the  states  where  the 
celebrations  under  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  auspices  were  followed 
by  fifty  state  meetings.  Among  the  many  prominent  people  partici- 
pating and  bringing  greetings  there  have  been  governors,  mayors.  Su- 
preme Court  justices,  editors,  and  state  and  college  officials. 

In  most  instances,  the  "get  together"  was  at  luncheons  or  banquets, 
the  light  of  candles  typifying  the  shining  of  the  truths  that  were 
presented  in  the  after-dinner  speeches.  The  national  president  was 
in  the  southern  states;  Mrs.  Boole  in  the  extreme  west;  Mrs.  Munns 
in  the  middle  west;  Mrs.  Anderson  in  the  northwest;  Mrs.  Smith 
in  the  southwest.  New  England,  and  the  middle  west;  Mrs.  Armor 
in  the  south  and  middle  west;  Mrs.  Miller  in  the  middle  west.  The 
number  of  miles  traveled  by  this  national  group  was  52,821.  The  co- 
operation of  state  presidents  in  arranging  these  important  gatherings 
was  most  praiseworthy. 

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Our    Golden    Jubilee 


What  was  the  keynote  of  the  speeches  made  at  these  Jubilee  gath- 
erings? Was  it  not  the  achievements  of  the  past,  and  the  present,  and 
the  boundless  opportunities  of  the  future?  The  oratory  of  the  W.  C, 
T.  U.  is  far-reaching  and  enduring,  for  it  is  based  on  facts.  It  makes 
vivid  the  many-sided,  progressive  co-operating  program  of  the  W.  C. 
T.  U.  How  great  have  been  the  results!  For  the  benefit  of  those  who 
are  "listening  in,"  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  radio  announcer  will 
broadcast  the  illuminating  messages  of  the  directors  and  superintendents 
of  the  following  departments: 

Americanization ;  Anti-Narcotics ;  Child  Welfare ;  Christian  Citizen- 
ship; Evangelistic;  Exhibits  and  Fairs;  Flower  Mission  and  Relief 
Work;  Health;  Institutes;  Legislation;  Medal  Contests;  Medical 
Temperance;  Parliamentary  Usage;  Peace  and  Arbitration;  Prison 
Reform;  Publicity;  Sabbath  Observance;  Scientific  Temperance  Instruc- 
tion ;  Scientific  Temperance  Investigation ;  Social  Morality ;  Soldiers  and 
Sailors;  Sunday  School;  Temperance  and  Missions;  The  Bible  in  the 
Public  Schools;  Women  in  Industry;  Work  Among  Negroes. 

The  national  Publicity  director,  Mrs,  R.  Scott  Dunkin,  a  graduate 
of  Columbia  University,  and  formerly  on  the  editorial  staffs  of  New 
York  newspapers,  tells  first  of  all,  the  reasons  why  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 
should  put  good  things  in  cold  type — and  have  them  there  for  keeps. 
Kindly  "stand  by!"  Listen  to  Mrs.  Dunkin  and  many  others:  "Pub- 
licity," says  Mrs.  Dunkin,  ''is  the  logical,  modern  method  of  inter- 
preting an  organization  to  the  public.  No  matter  what  its  glories, 
past  history,  notable  achievements  and  progressive  contributions  to 
human  development,  unless  an  organization  actively  tells  about  its 
work,  only  a  very  limited  public  will  realize  more  than  its  existence. 
Today,  many  talk  of  'child  welfare'  as  if  it  were  a  comparatively  new 
study  and  yet  for  the  past  fifty  years,  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  has 
been  interested  in  the  study  of  the  child  as  apart  from  children,  m 
the  mass.  It  has  had  a  special  department  devoted  to  the  study  of 
child  welfare  and  yet  few,  except  those  interested,  have  known  of 
this  splendid  progressive,  nation-building  work.  It  is  because  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.  did  not  make  use  of  its  opportunity  to  'shout  the  glad 
tidings.'  A  great  many  people  speak  of  'Americanization'  as  if  it  were 
something  entirely  new,  yet  for  fifty  years,  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  has  been 
working  among  the  foreigners  in  America,  helping  them  to  know  the 
customs   of   their   adopted    country   and   making    them    feel    at    home 


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Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


here  through  acting  the  part  of  real  neighbors,  understanding,  sym- 
pathetic friends. 

"Because  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  has  spent  its  time  working,  instead 
of  talking  about  itself,  a  comparatively  limited  number  know  of  this 
activity.  Instead  of  having  one  limited  interest,  in  reality  the  W.  C. 
T.  U.  has  twenty-six  departments  of  work  embracing  every  angle  of 
a  wide-visioned,  progressive  humanitarian  program  for  the  betterment 
of  community  life.  Through  the  various  avenues  of  publicity,  the 
public  is  now  being  informed  as  it  should  be.  The  time  will  come 
when,  instead  of  being  the  most  misunderstood  organization,  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.  will  be  recognized  by  women  everywhere,  as  the  repre- 
sentative woman's  organization." 

A  strange  voice  is  now  heard.  Impressed  by  the  speech  just  made, 
someone  personifying  the  printing  press  is  saying:  "I  am  the  voice  of 
today,  the  herald  of  tomorrow;  I  am  light,  knowledge,  power;  I 
epitomize  the  conquests  of  mind  over  matter;  I  weave  into  the  warp 
of  the  past  the  woof  of  the  future;  I  am  the  record  of  all  things  man- 
kind has  achieved." 

The  announcer  gives  these  additional  facts:  In  the  early  years, 
the  exchanges  received  by  the  editor  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  national 
organ,  were  innocent  of  all  allusions  to  temperance  work.  The  per- 
sistent publicity  work,  however,  soon  began  to  show  results.  The 
only  difficulty  experienced  by  the  editor  of  The  Unio?i  Signal  was  to 
choose  the  best  out  of  the  multiplicity  of  published  temperance  articles. 
This  widespread  change  in  the  secular  and  religious  press  was  largely 
due  to  the  expert  work  of  the  national  organ  and  of  the  'Tress"  de- 
partment, as  it  was  then  called,  which  secured  weekly  and  monthly 
temperance  columns  in  religious  weeklies  and  in  the  cosmopolitan  and 
local  newspapers.  The  Champion,  an  influential  liquor  organ  of 
Chicago,  thus  bewailed  this  consummation:  "There  is  not  a  day  when 
the  American  press  in  almost  every  state  of  the  Union  does  not  in- 
dulge in  violent  tirades  against  the  saloonkeeper.  He  is  held  forth 
to  the  world  as  a  ghoul  and  a  blood-sucking  vampire — as  a  thief, 
robber  and  a  murderer — as  a  most  dangerous,  abhorrent,  God-forsaken 
character  of  our  civilization.  In  the  large  cities  especially,  the  saloon- 
keeper is  tossed  and  kicked  about  like  a  football  by  every  religious 
mountebank  temperance  crank  and  sham  reformer,  from  the  pulpit 
or  the  rostrum,  or  by  means  of  some  dishonest,  lying  newspaper."     No 


184 


Our    Golden    Jubilee 


wonder  The  Champion  hated  The  Union  Signal  and  also  every  white- 
ribboner  who  had  the  acumen  of  a  successful  pen  woman. 

The  next  speaker,  Mrs.  Frances  P.  Parks,  national  superintendent 
of  the  department  of  Organization,  and  chairman  of  the  board  of  or- 
ganizers and  lecturers,  which  also  includes  evangelists,  calls  attention 
to  the  broadcasting  stations  all  over  the  land  where  the  experts  of 
this  department  are  sending  out,  with  scientific  and  educational  facts, 
womanly  and  compelling  appeals  which  annually  bring  to  the  organ- 
ization hundreds  of  new  members.  Mrs.  Parks  gives  the  following  list 
of  national  organizers  and  lecturers:  Mrs.  Mary  Harris  Armor,  Mrs. 
Florence  E.  Atkins,  Mrs.  Ellen  A.  Dayton  Blair,  Miss  Rose  A.  Davi- 
son, Mrs.  Lyversa  M.  De  Silva,  Mrs.  Fannie  A.  Drummond,  Mrs. 
Lulu  Thomas  Gleason,  Rev.  Lida  M.  Herrick,  Miss  Louise  E.  Hol- 
lister,  Mrs.  Emma  H.  Howland,  Mrs.  Azuba  Jones,  Mrs.  Lora  S. 
La  Mance,  Mrs.  Jeannette  H.  Mann,  Mrs.  Matilda  E.  Patterson, 
Mrs.  Viola  D.  Romans,  Miss  Roena  E.  Shaner,  Rev.  Mary  Sibbitt, 
Mrs.  Jackson  Silbaugh,  Miss  Christine  1.  Tinling,  Mrs.  Ida  D.  Van 
Valkenburgh.  National  evangelists:  Mme.  Layyah  Barakat,  Mrs. 
Lem  Gilreath,  Mrs.  Ella  Kroft,  Rev.  Etta  S.  Shaw. 

"The  purpose  of  the  Young  People's  Branch,"  says  the  national 
general  secretary,  Mrs.  Maude  B.  Perkins,  "is  to  unite  the  young 
people  of  the  community,  county,  and  state  in  a  campaign  for  the  en- 
forcement of  the  prohibitory  law;  to  keep  alive  the  civic  consciousness 
concerning  the  value  of  total  abstinence;  to  educate  the  young  men 
and  women  as  to  the  effect  of  narcotics  upon  the  human  system;  to 
study  the  meaning  of  a  single  standard  of  purity  and  live  it — that 
we  may  emphasize  the  essentials  of  Christian  citizenship  and  thus  per- 
petuate the  heritage  that  has  come  to  us  from  the  mother  organization. 

"Many  of  our  early  boy  members  are  now  prominent  teachers, 
preachers,  university  professors,  and  leaders  of  life  in  various  com- 
munities. Many  have  said  that  their  college  training  aided  them  to 
make  a  living;  but  the  principles  and  training  of  the  young 
people's  organization  had  helped  them  to  make  their  lives.  A  state  sen- 
ator of  New  Jersey  says  that  it  was  through  identification  with  our 
young  people's  organization  that  he  had  an  arrest  of  thought  along 
temperance  lines  and  so  is  now  able  to  work  forcefully  in  that  direc- 
tion.    A  prohibition  enforcement  agent  in  another  state  had  his  train- 


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Women    To  rc  h  -  b  barer  s 


ing  in  a  young  people's  society.  Scores  of  young  men  state  that  our 
work  has  had  a  vital  influence  in  shaping  their  lives. 

"Our  girls  also  pay  tribute  to  our  organization.  In  early  life, 
one  of  our  young  M^omen  w^anted  to  go  as  a  missionary,  but  her  health 
would  not  permit.  When  she  came  into  our  society,  she  confided  to 
me  her  ambition,  and  I  told  her  that  all  international  work  was  not 
necessarily  done  in  the  countries  across  the  sea.  Since  that  time,  she 
has  worked  officially  and  effectively  here  for  our  young  people  whom 
we  have  sent  to  other  nations.  A  young  woman  of  New  York  state 
trained  in  our  principles,  gave  fine  service  in  South  America.  Students 
from  other  lands  have  felt  the  impress  of  our  work  and  are  now  push- 
ing these  principles  in  the  Orient  and  elsewhere. 

"The  young  people  have  done  valuable  research  work,  making  sur- 
veys as  to  the  beneficial  effects  of  prohibition  in  their  respective  com- 
munities; they  have  carried  on  correspondence  with  the  young  people 
of  other  non-prohibition  countries,  imparting  information  regarding  the 
value  of  the  dry  law  in  this  country;  they  have  conducted  in  their 
own  Branches  citizenship  study  classes  to  which  members  of  other 
young  people's  societies  have  been  invited ;  and  in  their  own  circles 
have  been  influential  in  building  up  sentiment  for  total  abstinence 
and  prohibition." 

The  announcer  makes  this  historic  statement:  "In  the  beginnmg, 
the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  met  the  challenge  of  the 
American  liquor  trafific,  with  the  challenge  of  America's  youth.  Frances 
J.  Barnes  of  New  York,  cultured  and  devoted,  the  first  national  'Y' 
secretary,  gave  herself  freely  to  the  task  of  winning  young  women  md 
young  men  for  an  unpopular  reform.  Later,  she  gave  her  organizing 
and  social  program  to  the  youth  of  the  world." 

The  voice  of  the  national  secretary  of  the  Loyal  Temperance  Legion 
Branch,  Miss  Mary  B.  Ervin,  is  now  heard :  "Inspire  America's  ycutn 
with  civic  ideals,"  she  says. 

"In  Athens,  long  ago,  boys  were  taught  this  pledge:  'We  will 
never  bring  disgrace  to  this  our  city,  by  any  act  of  dishonesty  or  cowar- 
dice, nor  ever  desert  our  comrades;  we  will  fight  for  the  ideals  and 
sacred  things  of  the  city,  both  alone  and  with  many;  we  will  revere 
and  obey  the  city  laws  and  do  our  best  to  incite  a  like  respect  and 
reverence  in  others;  we  will  strive  unceasingly  to  quicken  the  public's 


186 


Our    Golden    Jubilee 


sense  of  civic  duty — that  thus,  in  all  these  ways,  we  may  transmit  ihis 
city  greater,  better  and  more  beautiful  than  it  was  transmitted  to  us.' 

"Such  a  pledge  taught  to  the  American  youth  today  and  passed 
on  to  future  generations  would  make  our  own  loved  land  truly  'America 
the  Beautiful' 

"That  we  may  celebrate  our  Jubilee  Year  in  a  manner  worthy 
of  this  great  event,  worthy  of  the  years  of  service  and  sacrifice  of  our 
blessed  foremothers,  worthy  of  that  splendid  army  of  Loyal  Tem- 
perance Legioners  that  helped  make  'King  Alcohol  tremble'  and  totter 
from  his  throne  when  they  'grew  up,'  in  honor  of  these  worthy  heroes 
of  the  past  and  in  appreciation  of  the  bigness  of  our  task  yet  ahead, 
we  need  a  MILLION  boys  and  girls  enlisted  in  the  ranks  of  the  Loyal 
Temperance  Legion.  These  million  members  will  want  their  fathers 
and  their  mothers  to  vote  against  beer  and  wine,  and  to  talk  against 
it,  and  to  obey  the  laws  of  the  land,  and  above  all  they  will  have  had 
instilled  into  their  plastic  minds  the  principles  of  clean  living  and  right 
thinking." 

May  the  white  ribbon  forces  of  America  realize  anew  that  the 
"law-makers  of  twenty  years  hence  are  forming  their  habits  and 
opinions  now"  and  may  we  catch  a  vision  of  the  far-reaching  in- 
fluence of  our  labor  of  love  in  capturing  this  generation  for  law  ob- 
servance and  for  Christian  citizenship.  Enlist  the  children  today  and 
help  make  America  "greater,  better  and  more  beautiful  than  it  was 
transmitted  to  us."  The  imperative  need  is  a  larger  number  of  con- 
secrated leaders  to  keep  the  watchwords,  "Love,  Loyalty,  Light"  and 
to  inspire  in  them  the  Christian  patriotism  embodied  in  our  Loyal 
Temperance  Legion  movement. 

"Hats  off  to  the  past,  coats  oH  to  the  future,"  said  Mrs.  CuUa 
J.  Vayhinger,  the  late  national  director  of  Americanization.  "What 
is  our  past?  A  half  century  of  toil  and  sacrifice  to  educate  public  sen- 
timent in  the  United  States  to  the  belief  in  total  abstinence  for  the 
individual,  and  prohibition  for  the  state;  to  place  the  ballot  in  the 
hands  of  women;  to  establish  a  single  standard  of  purity  for  men  and 
women ;  to  better  working  conditions  for  wage  earners,  especially 
women  and  children.    What  is  our  future?" 

"Victory  always  brings  new  obligations.  Enforcement  officers  tell 
us  that  from  sixty-five  to  ninety  per  cent  of  the  violations  of  the  pro- 
hibition law  must  be  laid  at  the  door  of  the  foreigner  of  our  country; 


187 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


but  again,  a  noted  judge  of  Chicago  says  that  ninety  per  cent  of  the 
foreigners  coming  before  him  for  violations  are  ignorant  of  the  taw 
and  its  penalty,  to  say  nothing  of  being  ignorant  of  the  reason  which 
led  to  its  enactment.  Surely,  our  organization  which  had  so  large 
a  part  in  writing  the  law  has  the  responsibility  of  teaching  these 
foreigners.  The  foreign-born  women  in  this  country  are  potential 
voters  largely  through  our  efforts.  It  is  our  task  to  help  them  to 
become  safe  and  intelligent  voters.     We  must  not  fail. 

"The  foreign  centers  in  our  large  cities  are  the  greatest  liability 
of  our  government.  These  foreigners  are  not  anarchists  and  traitors 
to  the  flag  under  which  they  have  come  to  live  but  they  do  not  know 
'Old  Glory'  and  that  for  which  it  stands.  One  generation  of  foreign- 
born,  or  children  of  foreign-born  parents,  taught  conscientiously  by 
Christian  Americans  would  make  of  this  liability  an  asset.  When 
foreigners  first  leave  the  ship  at  Ellis  Island,  let  us  extend  to  them 
a  friendly  hand.  Let  us  enlist  in  this  line  of  work  women  who  will 
be  Christian  American  neighbors  to  the  neglected  foreign  women, 
especially  mothers." 

"Stand  by,"  says  the  announcer  while  you  have  Mrs.  Vayhinger's 
picture  of  a  day  in  a  W.  C.  T.  U.  Americanization  Center:  "The 
clock  in  front  of  the  jewelry  store,  owned  by  Mr.  Cerevegna,  marked 
eight  oclock  as  a  young  woman,  probably  thirty  j'ears  old,  stepped 
lightly  down  Paulina  Street,  stopped  in  front  of  a  store  building 
facing  on  two  streets,  unlocked  the  door  and  went  in.  The  windov/s 
were  clean  and  in  them  was  a  fine  exhibit  of  picture  posters  on  health, 
prohibition,  total  abstinence,  law  enforcement,  peace,  good  citizenship 
and  child  welfare,  with  the  American  flag  much  in  evidence.  Pictures 
of  Washington,  Lincoln,  Lafayette,  Kosciusko,  Frances  Willard,  and 
in  the  center  of  the  group  a  copy  of  Hoffmann's  head  of  Christ,  oc- 
cupied a  conspicuous  position.  On  a  window  facing  each  street,  In 
gold  and  black  letters  were  the  words,  'W.  C.  T.  U.  Neighbors,'  and 
on  the  door  in  the  same  colors,  the  words,  'Welcome,  Walk  In.' 

"As  the  young  woman  entered  the  bright,  cheery  room  the  tele- 
phone rang  and  a  voice  at  the  other  end  of  the  line  asked  if  a  group 
of  young  Italian  men  and  women  from  homes  where  the  families  w^ere 
crowded  into  two  rooms,  might  come  to  the  Center  the  next  evening 
with  their  own  'eats'  and  have  a  party.  As  she  turned  from  the  phone, 
the  door  opened   and   a  dirty,   unkempt  woman  entered.      In   broken 

188 


Our    Golden    Jubilee 


English,  she  told  a  sorry  tale  of  sickness  in  the  city  hospital,  dismissal, 
inability  to  work,  and  no  place  to  stay.  The  teacher  heard  her  story 
and  then  called  up  the  Salvation  Army  to  see  if  they  could  take  care 
of  the  case  in  their  woman's  quarters.  Receiving  a  favorable  reply, 
she  wrote  a  note  to  the  person  in  charge,  asking  her  to  let  her  know 
when  the  bearer  arrived,  placed  it  in  the  hands  of  her  visitor,  took 
her  to  the  street-car,  paid  her  fare,  and  asked  the  conductor  to  put 
her  ofiE  at  the  right  place.  Later,  she  was  told  over  the  phone  that 
the  woman  had  put  in  an  appearance,  all  safe  and  sound. 

"It  was  nine  o'clock  when  three  women,  wearing  the  marks  of 
Russia  as  their  native  land,  called  at  the  Center.  For  one  hour  the 
teacher  with  infinite  patience  and  care  used  her  brain  and  all  the 
ingenuity  she  could  muster  to  instruct  them  regarding  the  various  parts 
of  the  body.  Then  she  took  into  her  own  hand  the  horny  hand  of 
each  M^oman,  and  carefully  guided  the  stubby  fingers  in  the  attempt 
to  make  letters  that  would  spell  her  name.  When  the  lessons  were 
finished  and  the  stories  of  sick  babies,  husbands  out  of  jobs,  and  the 
troubles  of  the  children  in  school  had  been  listened  to  with  sympathetic 
attention,  the  teacher  gave  her  promise  to  see  what  could  be  done,  and 
the  three  foreign  sisters,  filled  with  more  courage  and  interest  because 
one  American  woman  cared,  went  out  to  take  up  the  trials  and  strug- 
gles incident  to  life  in  a  strange  land. 

"Each  hour  brought  new  visitors  and  fresh  duties.  At  two  oclock, 
three  white-ribboners  came  and  for  an  hour  they  studied  with  the 
teacher  the  correspondence  course  in  Americanization,  and  then  went 
out  with  her  to  call  at  some  of  the  homes  of  the  neighborhood,  in 
preparation  for  volunteer  work  among  the  mothers.  At  three-thirty 
a  crowd  of  boys  and  girls  came  scuffling  into  the  Center,  and  after 
discouraged  looking  stockings  had  been  pulled  up  off  of  shoe-tops,  but- 
tons put  into  their  proper  holes,  and  noses  wiped,  at  the  suggestion 
of  the  young  women  from  the  Young  People's  Branch  who  had  charge 
of  the  Loyal  Temperance  Legion,  an  interesting  group  of  children 
representing  Roumania,  Greece,  Italy,  Czecho-Slovakia,  Poland,  Croa- 
tia and  Russia  were  taught  the  reason  why  they  should  love  America 
and  the  principles  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  This  was  a  busy  day,  indeed, 
though  it  did  not  happen  to  be  the  date  when  the  Mothers'  Club  or 
the  Girls'  Club  met,  or  when  the  teacher  was  to  visit  the  court,  or 
the  school,  or  when  there  was  an  evening  class  or  a  mothers'  party. 


189 


Women    Torch-bearers 


Our  successful  Americanization  field  worker,  Miss  Charlotte  Fraser, 
visits  the  Centers." 

Miss  Helen  G.  H,  Estelle,  the  national  superintendent  of  Anti- 
Narcotics,  i«  now  heard:  "Our  department  has  these  objectives: 
Knowledge  of  present  laws  regulating  traffic  in  narcotics;  observance 
and  enforcement  of  existing  laws;  an  anti-narcotic  program  betore 
every  mothers'  club,  parent-teachers  association  and  other  groups  in- 
terested in  humanitarian  work;  greater  attention  paid  to  the  nar- 
cotic work  in  the  public  schools  through  the  hygiene  and  biology 
classes ;  viewing  of  the  film,  'Human  Wreckage' ;  a  copy  of  the  anti- 
tobacco  law  of  the  state  in  every  place  where  tobacco  products  are 
sold.  Opium,  morphine,  codeine,  heroin,  and  cocaine  are  classed  as 
habit-forming  drugs.  The  W.  C.  T.  U.  seeks  to  protect  all  from  the 
bane  of  these  narcotics,  and  especially  through  education  to  prevent 
young  people  from  forming  drug-using  habits.  When  children  of  all 
nations  are  educated  as  to  the  evil  effects  of  opium  and  cocaine  upon 
the  human  system,  the  drug  problem  will  have  been  solved." 

The  next  speaker  to  be  introduced  over  the  radio  is  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
A.  Perkins,  the  national  director  of  Child  Welfare.  "The  Child  Wel- 
fare department  program  of  the  National  Woman's  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union,"  Mrs.  Perkins  explains,  "is  a  five  pointed  one:  To 
every  child  belongs  the  right,  to  be  well  born;  (this  also  includes 
future  health);  to  an  education;  to  protection  from  child  labor;  to 
be  morally  safeguarded ;  to  spiritual  training.  The  work  is  carried 
on  under  four  divisions.  Division  one — research  work  and  a  campaign 
of  information  and  education.  Division  two — selection  by  local  unions 
of  specific  work  for  immediate  assistance.  Division  three — emphasis 
on  the  Eighteenth  Amendment  and  the  Volstead  Code  in  their  benefi- 
cent relation  to  child  life.  Division  four — to  give  to  mothers  our 
friendship,  our  literature,  our  special  helps  and  to  urge  all  mothers 
to  stand  with  organized  mother-love  in  all  that  helps  child  life  and 
to  say,  The  legalized  liquor  traffic  in  any  form,  under  any  guise  shall 
never  return.' 

"Through  the  national  official  organ,  The  Union  Signal,  through 
the  state  papers  of  the  organization,  through  special  literature,  and 
through  two  special  papers  sent  out  each  month  from  the  office  of 
the  national  director,  the  organization  is  a  vital  factor  in  stimulating 
community  interest  in  child  welfare,  and  gives  direct  help  to  mothers 


190 


Our    Golden    Jubilee 


on  the  care  of  children.  Pamphlets  and  mimeographed  sheets  are 
available  as  loan  material  from  the  office  of  the  national  director. 
Extensive  collections  of  posters  and  charts  are  loaned  to  W.  C.  T.  U. 
organizations  and  for  educational  meetings,  chautauquas,  health  weeks, 
baby  weeks,  and  fairs." 

The  white  ribbon  electorate  are  alert  listeners  as  they  learn  thai 
Mrs.  Ida  B.  Wise  Smith,  national  director  of  the  department  of  Chris- 
tian Citizenship  will  broadcast:  "To  be  a  good  citizen,"  Mrs.  Smith 
declares,  "and  to  render  the  best  possible  service  to  one's  country,  is 
the  responsibility  of  everyone  who  receives  the  benefits  and  protection 
of  government.  All  good  citizens  should  themselves  implicitly  obey 
the  law;  discourage  violation  by  personal  indulgence  in  liquor  among 
friends;  courteously  protest  against  jests  at  prohibition  in  movies, 
periodicals,  or  in  social  converse;  and  carry  plans  for  co-operation  in 
law  enforcement  into  every  organization  to  which  they  belong.  A  par- 
ticular activity — one  that  is  colorful  and  spectacular — is  the  'March 
of  Allegiance'  that  in  many  of  the  larger  towns  features  election 
campaigns. 

"Rally  the  greater  army  for  the  greater  task.  Co-operate  with 
public  school  teachers  to  secure  emphasis  on  scientific  temperance  teach- 
ing and  citizenship  study,  with  law  observance  specially  stressed ;  secure 
the  same  co-operation  in  colleges;  give  great  attention  to  the  Christian 
Endeavor,  Epworth  League,  Baptist  Young  People's  Union,  Loyal 
Temperance  Legion,  and  all  other  young  people's  societies;  assist  their 
Good  Citizenship  committees  to  properly  plan  and  function ;  study  all 
public  questions — the  policy  of  every  political  party  toward  them,  and 
the  attitude  of  every  aspirant  for  office;  pay  poll  tax,  if  required  in 
the  state;  register  if  necessary,  and  induce  others  to  do  so;  attend 
all  caucuses — vote  at  primaries  and  final  elections ;  uphold  the  officers 
now  in  charge  of  law  enforcement,  offer  assistance  if  needed,  commend 
any  good  work  they  do,  protest  when  it  is  proper  to  do  so,  secure 
removal  from  office  when  unfit;  as  part  of  this  program  be  sure  that 
at  every  election  officials  are  secured  who  will  live  up  to  their  oath 
of  office." 

"The  aim  of  the  department  of  Exhibits  and  Fairs,"  says  Mrs. 
Carolyn  P.  Lindsay,  the  national  superintendent,  "is  to  emphasize  by 
picture  play,  pageant,  float,  pantomime,  parade,  tableau,  charade,  music, 
poster,  exhibit,  contest,  or  drill,  the  beautiful  and  the  constructive,  the 


191 


Women    Torc  h- b  e  arer  s 


benefits  of  prohibition,  the  blessings  of  total  abstinence  and  law  en- 
forcement; to  study  the  exhibit  problem  intensively  and  by  so  doing 
evolve  a  thing  of  beauty  both  educative  and  convincing. 

"To  embrace  every  occasion  w^here  law  enforcement  may  be  presen- 
ted in  some  form  either  by  co-operation  or  by  initiative,  indoors  or 
outdoors.  To  plan  well  for  a  place  at  all  fairs  and  to  put  on  a  cred- 
itable all-day  program. 

"Valuable  W.  C.  T.  U.  exhibits  have  been  attractive  features  of 
fairs,  expositions  and  all  large  W.  C.  T.  U.  conventions.  The  Na- 
tional W.  C.  T.  U.  received  a  bronze  medal  at  the  Louisiana  Purchase 
Exposition;  a  gold  medal  was  given  the  organization  at  the  Lewis 
and  Clark  Centennial  Exposition  held  in  Portland,  Oregon,  in  1905, 
a  similar  medal  was  awarded  at  the  Panama-Pacific  Exposition  held 
in  San  Francisco  in  1915.  For  war  relief  work,  a  Belgium  Orphan 
Fund  medal  of  bronze  was  given  in  1914,  and  as  noted  elsewhere,  a 
medal  was  given  Miss  Leila  M.  Sewall,  the  national  superintendent 
of  Flower  Mission  and  Relief  Work,  for  the  adoption  during  the  war, 
of  fatherless  children  in  France." 

The  announcer  gives  this  notice :  "At  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Head- 
quarters, Evanston,  Illinois,  can  be  obtained  a  five  reel  film,  'Safe- 
guarding the  Nation.'  It  is  a  scientific,  educational  exposition  of  the 
effects  of  small  quantities  of  alcohol  upon  the  individual,  physically  and 
mentally.  The  slowing  down  of  the  physical  powers  is  shown  by 
illustrations  of  endurance  tests  in  walking,  in  feats  of  strength  and 
in  ability  to  accomplish  set  tasks.  It  is  clearly  visualized  through  the 
eye-gate  that  the  nerves  do  not  respond  as  quickly  when  alcoholized, 
even  to  the  extent  of  wine  and  beer  quantities.  An  engineer  makes 
more  mistakes  in  distinguishing  colors,  hence  may  run  past  his  signal 
with  consequent  loss  of  life;  the  man  who  gives  the  signal  for  the 
hoisting  or  lowering  of  great  beams  responds  a  second  too  late  and  a 
life  may  pay  the  forfeit;  the  man  at  the  great  steel  plant  is  pouring 
the  red,  molten  iron  into  the  forms — instantaneous  response  to  the 
signal  is  the  price  of  safety.  These  interesting  illustrations  hold  the 
attention  while  they  point  the  lesson. 

"The  effect  of  alcohol  on  posterity  is  set  forth  in  the  guinea-pig 
experiments  which  are  interesting  and  convincing.  The  physiological 
aspect  of  the  question  is  emphasized  and  the  phenomena  of  the  beating 
heart,  the  expanding  lungs,  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  etc.,  are  so 


192 


Our    Golden    Jubilee 


well  done  as  to  cause  favorable  comment  from  scientists.  As  a  climax 
to  the  result  of  the  study  of  the  effect  of  alcohol,  the  whitening  United 
States  map  is  shown  as  prohibition  progress  was  made  and  at  last  the 
beautiful  Capitol  of  the  saloonless  nation  is  exhibited." 

Miss  Leila  M.  Sewall,  the  national  superintendent,  and  her  asso- 
ciate, Miss  Eva  Kilbreth  Foster,  tell  how  the  beautiful  Flower  Mission 
and  Relief  Work  has  blessed  many  countries.  The  department  seeks 
"to  alleviate  the  sufferings  of  a  chastened  humanity;  to  afford  relief 
increasing  and  comprehensive  in  its  scope;  to  meet  acute  situations  with 
emergency  relief,  international  as  well  as  national,  if  necessary.  Co- 
operating with  other  departments,  this  one  not  infrequently  opens  the 
door  to  pronounced  prohibition  sentiment."  The  remarkable  war  re- 
lief work  of  the  department  is  told  in  a  previous  chapter.  The  historic 
setting  of  the  Flower  Mission  department  is  well-known  to  all  who 
continue  to  celebrate  Jennie  Casseday's  birthday.  Miss  Casseday,  it 
will  be  recalled,  a  suffering  invalid,  became  at  Frances  Willard's  re- 
quest, the  first  superintendent  of  this  gracious  ministering  department. 
Miss  Ethel  Austin  Shrigley,  who  preceded  Miss  Sewall  as  superin- 
tendent, initiated  many  of  the  plans  so  successfully  used  today. 

A  woman  physician  now  speaks — Dr.  P.  S.  Bourdeau-Sisco,  the 
national  superintendent  of  the  department  of  Health.  ''This  depart- 
ment," Dr.  Sisco  says,  "was  established  in  the  year  1881,  at  the  eighth 
annual  convention.  Thus  early  in  the  history  of  the  movement  was 
the  relation  of  health  to  temperance  recognized.  The  department  has 
had  thirteen  superintendents,  three  of  them  having  been  physicians. 
During  the  past  forty-three  years  it  has  been  known  at  various  times 
as  the  department  of  Hj'giene,  the  department  of  Heredity,  and  the 
department  of  Health,  which  indicates  something  of  the  scope  of  the 
work  that  has  been  done.  Today  it  is  organized  in  forty-six  states 
and  divisions  of  territory. 

"  'To  glorify  God  in  our  bodies,  to  keep  his  word  and  teach  men 
so,  is  the  tap-root  of  the  temperance  reform' — said  Frances  E.  Wil- 
lard.  'The  Health  department  is  the  great  foundation  department,'  is 
the  statement  of  Anna  A.  Gordon.  These  sentiments  have  ever  been 
the  department  ideals.  It  teaches  that  the  craving  for  alcohol  is  due 
in  part  to  a  condition  of  fowered  physical  vitality  and  an  indefinable 
feeling  of  inadequacy.  It  is  known  that  the  general  movement  for 
better  health,  the  increased  interest  in  all  matters  of  public  hygiene 


193 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


during  the  past  years  has  been  one  of  the  factors  in  the  banishment 
of  the  saloon. 

"And,  now,  it  is  just  here  that  at  the  present  time  the  work  of  the 
Health  department  also  vitally  touches  the  question  of  law  enforce- 
ment. It  seeks  to  aid  in  the  enforcement  of  the  law  by  removing  one 
of  the  causes  of  infringement  of  the  law,  namely,  disease  and  ill  health. 

"Moreover,  the  study  of  physiology  clearly  indicates  that  the  human 
body  is  governed  by  law,  and  that  for  every  broken  law  there  is  a 
corresponding  penalty.  We  know  also  that  the  body  politic  is  ruled 
by  law,  and  that  for  every  broken  law  there  ensues  greater  or  less 
civic  disaster.  And  so  when  the  department  of  Health  teaches  respect 
for  the  laws  of  the  body,  therein  does  it  also  teach  respect  for  law 
wherever  found,  not  only  in  the  realm  of  nature,  but  also  in  the  domam 
of  the  state.  Thus  does  the  department  correlate  its  efforts  with  the 
great  objectives  of  the  national  organization. 

"Its  methods  include  the  extensive  use  of  well  chosen  literature, 
health  lectures,  health  demonstrations,  the  use  of  the  public  press  for 
the  dissemination  of  the  truths  of  health,  and  health  meetings  held  in 
all  the  local  unions  of  the  organization  throughout  the  land.  It  stresses 
the  various  features  of  public  hygiene,  personal  hygiene,  and  mental 
hygiene,  as  general  and  local  conditions  demand.  Its  principles  are 
indicated  in  the  following  physical  decalog: — 

"I.  Thou  shalt  eat  for  health.    Thou  shalt  not  stufif  nor  starve. 

"II.  Thou  shalt  drink  plenty  of  pure  water.  Most  men  eat  too 
much  but  drink  too  little. 

"III.  Thou  shalt  work,  but  thou  shalt  not  over  work. 

"IV.  Thou  shalt  obtain  sufficient  sleep,  but  thou  shalt  not  be  found 
a  sluggard. 

*'V.  Thou  shalt  recreate,  but  thou  shalt  not  dissipate. 

"VI.  Thou  shalt  dress  healthfully;  thy  body  shall  be  well  protected 
but  no  part  constricted. 

"VII.  Thou  shalt  practice  deep  breathing,  for  thy  lungs  are  thy 
body's  ventilators. 

"VIII.  Thou  shalt  bathe  frequently,  for  thus  thou  keepest  active  the 
million  pores  of  thy  skin. 

"IX.  Thou  shalt  covet  the  sunshine.  It  is  God's  great  life-giving 
force. 


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"X.  Thou  shalt  not  worry,  for  the  paths  of  worry  lead  but  to 
the  grave." 

"The  price  of  progress  is  education,"  says  Mrs.  Anna  Marden 
De  Yo,  national  superintendent  of  the  department  of  Institutes.  "The 
Institute  offers  a  constructive  program  which  will  aid  in  the  education 
and  development  of  W.  C.  T.  U.  women  while  at  the  same  time  at- 
tracting others.  The  Institute  gives  needed  emphasis  to  the  benefits 
of  prohibition,  thereby  creating  sentiment  to  help  in  holding  and  en- 
dorsing the  Eighteenth  Amendment.  The  Institute  diffuses  a  wider 
knowledge  of  the  far-reaching  plans  of  our  great  organization !" 

"Listeners  in"  hope  to  hear  the  latest  plans  from  Washington,  D.  C, 
when  the  next  speaker,  Mrs.  Lenna  Lowe  Yost,  national  superinten- 
dent of  Legislation,  is  announced.  They  are  not  disappointed.  Mrs. 
Yost  says: 

"This  department  aims  to  present  the  voice  of  organized  woman- 
hood, the  church,  and  the  home,  to  legislative  bodies,  local,  state  and 
national,  to  perfect  and  unify  prohibition  laws  and  to  aid  in  securing 
other  legislation  that  relates  to  human  welfare.  The  Legislative  repre- 
sentative keeps  watch  for  the  constituency  of  the  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union.  When  an  attack  is  made  by  the  enemy  to  modify 
or  repeal  our  prohibition  law  through  legislation,  an  agency  is  needed 
to  speak  for  the  organized  womanhood  of  the  nation.  Many  times 
since  the  Constitutional  Prohibition  Amendment  was  ratified,  the  need 
for  new  legislation  has  developed,  and  additional  legislation  from  time 
to  time  will  be  found  necessary  to  meet  the  devices  of  the  violator  and 
to  meet  constructions  placed  upon  the  law  by  courts  or  executive  depart- 
ments. Prohibition  legislation  will  always  have  our  first  and  active 
support.  The  prohibition  law  was  secured  after  fifty  years  of  organ- 
ized and  sacrificial  effort  on  the  part  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union.  To  establish  the  principle  of  prohibition  in  the  funda- 
mental laws  of  the  land  has  been  the  goal  all  through  the  years.  It 
has  always  been  the  major  issue  and  it  will  continue  to  be  until  the 
principle  is  established  into  the  customs  of  society. 

"The  Legislative  representative  promotes  other  Federal  legislation 
especially  that  which  has  to  do  with  the  efficiency  of  the  home,  edu- 
cation for  citizenship,  the  health  of  our  people  and  the  highest  moral 
development  of  the  individual.  The  endorsement  of  the  following 
measures  is  recommended:  Adequate  appropriations  for  the  enforcement 


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of  prohibition;  the  Children's  Bureau,  to  include  appropriations  for  the 
study  of  conditions  relating  to  procedures  affecting  children ;  venereal 
disease  division  of  the  United  States  Public  Health  Service. 
Women's  Bureau.  For  the  protection  of  the  Indian  from  the  drug, 
peyote.  For  a  Department  of  Education  which  shall  adequately  pro- 
vide for  physical  education.  The  principle  for  this  is  found  in  the 
Sterling-Reed  Bill  now  pending  before  Congress.  For  an  increase  in 
the  number  of  army  and  navy  chaplains.  The  Capper-Hull  Bill 
(S.  2532;  H,  R.  7036.)  For  an  improved  industrial  program  for  Fed- 
eral prisoners,  particularly  for  the  new  home  for  Federal  women  pris- 
oners. For  a  Federal  Industrial  Reformatory  for  boys.  (Pending  Bill, 
Foster  H.  R.)  Entry  into  Permanent  Court  of  International  Justice 
according  to  the  Harding-Hughes  proposals. 

"To  perfect  state  prohibition  laws.  For  ratification  of  Child  Labor 
amendment.  For  acceptance  and  enforcement  of  the  Maternity  and 
Infancy  Act,  For  welfare  of  women  engaged  in  gainful  occupations. 
For  better  child  labor  laws  where  they  are  below  the  standard.  For 
uniform  laws,  especially  relating  to  marriage  and  divorce. 

''The  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  declares  its  interest  in  human  welfare 
legislation  for  the  District  of  Columbia — the  nation's  capital  city,  such 
as  a  Department  of  Public  Welfare,  and  will,  through  the  national 
superintendent  of  Legislation,  direct  such  activities  in  the  interest  of 
this  measure  as  the  organization  may  find  it  possible  to  give.  From 
the  Legislative  Headquarters,  Bliss  Building,  Washington,  D.  C,  in- 
formation in  regard  to  Federal  and  state  welfare  and  prohibition  laws, 
also  information  on  pending  bills  in  the  U.  S.  Congress,  is  furnished." 

Mrs.  Lettie  Hill  May,  the  national  superintendent  of  The  Bible 
in  the  Public  Schools,  gives  this  information:  "The  object  of  the  de- 
partment is  to  create  sentiment  for  a  more  active  and  definite  study 
of  the  Bible  in  all  schools  where  it  is  now  used,  and  to  introduce  it 
into  others.  In  order  to  do  this  we  must  arouse  public  sentiment  along 
this  line  by  using  some  of  the  following  plans:  Secure  the  co-operation 
of  state,  county  and  local  superintendents  of  public  instruction,  as  well 
as  members  of  local  school  boards;  hold  public  meetings  in  the  interest 
of  the  department,  and  get  newspaper  publicity.  Secure  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  superintendent  in  each  state  and  local  union  who  will  cir- 
culate diligently  the  literature  for  the  department.  Enroll  members 
of   school    boards   and   school   teachers   as   members   of    the   Woman's 


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Christian  Temperance  Union.  Co-operate  with  other  organizations 
who  are  doing  the  same  line  of  work. 

"There  is  a  growing  enthusiasm  in  the  United  States  and  other 
nations  for  bringing  the  Bible  into  the  public  schools;  and  in  this 
movement  a  great  many  organizations  are  co-operating.  In  many 
cities  where  the  school  board  has  appointed  a  committee  to  prepare 
suggestive  readings  for  daily  use  through  the  school  term,  a  Catholic, 
a  Jew  and  a  Protestant  have  been  appointed  on  said  committee.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that  not  only  in  our  nation,  but  in  others,  the 
'Back  to  the  Bible'  slogan  is  demanding  the  attention  of  all  thinking 
people.  Theodore  Roosevelt  said:  'In  this  country  we  rightly  pride 
ourselves  upon  our  wide-spread  popular  education.  It  is  a  great  thing 
to  be  clever,  to  be  able,  to  be  smart,  but  it  is  better  to  have  the  qual- 
ities that  find  their  expression  in  the  Decalogue  and  the  Golden  Rule. 
Honesty  first ;  then  courage ;  then  brains.'  " 

The  voices  of  young  people  are  now  heard  as  Mrs.  Maude  Carman 
Cathcart,  the  national  superintendent  of  Medal  Contests,  gives  a  dem- 
onstration of  its  educational  work. 

"Our  object,"  she  saj^s,  "is  to  enlist  the  children  and  young  people 
in  a  series  of  declamatory  contests,  the  selections  being  on  subjects 
relative  to  our  work  published  in  the  recitation  books.  To  use  these 
young  people  wherever  possible  at  law-enforcement-citizenship  rallies 
and  for  ready-made  meetings  in  the  churches  and  other  societies.  To 
utilize  this  opportunity  to  keep  ever  before  the  public  the  principles 
of  our  organization,  and  also  to  enroll  new  members  for  the  W.  C.  T. 
U.  To  keep  a  correct  address  of  each  medal  winner,  as  each  one  is 
entitled  to  membership  in  the  contest  alumni.  The  department  has 
enlisted  thousands  of  young  people  and  children,  promoting  the  prin- 
ciples of  total  abstinence  and  obedience  to  law,  and  has  greatly  helped 
to  build  up  a  clean,  honorable,  and  loyal  American  citizenship."  Mrs. 
Cathcart  then  pays  tribute  to  her  late  mother,  Mrs.  Adelia  Carman, 
the  first  national  superintendent,  who  nationally  and  internationally, 
for  many  years,  made  the  department  a  success. 

Mrs.  Martha  M.  Allen,  the  national  superintendent  of  the  de- 
partment of  Medical  Temperance,  has  the  special  attention  of  many 
white  ribbon  physicians  and  nurses  as  she  says:  "This  department  be- 
gan, in  1897,  the  public  campaign  against  fraudulent  patent  medicines, 
especially  those  containing  large  quantities  of  alcohol,  and  was  instru- 

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mental  in  interesting  Collier  s  Weekly  and  The  Ladies  Home  Journal 
in  the  fight.  The  department  put  copies  of  the  'Great  American 
Fraud'  pamphlet  into  thousands  of  public  libraries,  and  sent  out  thou- 
sands of  copies  to  persons  of  influence.  The  agitation  begotten  was 
a  great  aid  in  securing  the  passage  of  the  National  Pure  Food  Law 
which  requires  the  statement,  on  the  label,  of  the  presence  of  opiates 
and  the  percentage  of  alcohol. 

"The  department  began  a  crusade  against  the  use  of  whisky  in 
the  treatment  of  tuberculosis  of  the  lungs  aided  by  a  few  experts  in 
that  disease  who  did  not  believe  in  whisky  treatment.  The  poster 
prepared  by  Mrs.  Allen  was  used  by  different  boards  of  health  in  cam- 
paigns against  tuberculosis  and  was  enlarged  and  used  in  the  great 
International  Tuberculosis  Congress  held  in  Washington.  The  out- 
come was  that  soon  all  literature  on  consumption  warned  against; 
alcohol.  We  have  done  much  to  win  better-class  physicians  to  abandon 
the  use  of  alcoholic  liquors  as  medicine  by  the  distribution  of  leaflets 
at  medical  meetings.  Appeals  to  physicians,  largely  circulated,  were 
the  means  of  obtaining  strong  resolutions  from  the  American  Medi- 
cal Association  in  1917,  resolutions  which  had  large  influence  in  the 
securing  of  national  prohibition.  The  book,  'Alcohol  a  Dangerous  and 
Unnecessary  Medicine,'  written  by  Mrs.  Allen,  was  placed  in  all  the 
medical  libraries  of  the  United  States  and  Canada  by  a  philanthropic 
friend.  This  book  and  the  leaflets  of  the  department  were  highly  com- 
mended by  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  and  some 
other  influential  journals. 

"The  agitation  kept  up  by  this  department  with  its  appeals  to 
physicians  and  its  circulation  among  them  of  the  best  and  latest  findings 
against  alcohol  by  practitipners  and  research  workers  has  resulted  in 
a  great  change  in  hospital  practice  and  in  the  teaching  in  medical 
colleges.  Very  little  alcoholic  liquor  is  now  used  in  most  of  the  hos- 
pitals of  this  country,  and  in  some  of  the  largest,  no  alcoholic  liquor 
has  been  used  since  the  advent  of  national  prohibition.  The  best  med- 
ical schools  no  longer  teach  that  alcohol  is  a  useful  or  indispensable 
medicine;  many  warn  against  its  use. 

"When  this  department  began  its  work,  whisky  was  looked  upon 
as  the  sheet  anchor  of  the  profession  in  the  treatment  of  pneumonia 
and  typhoid  fever.  Now  it  is  a  completely  discredited  drug  in  all 
infectious  diseases.     Whisky  and  brandy  were  omitted  from  the  U.  S. 


198 


Our    Golden    Jubilee 


Pharmacopoeia  after  this  department  had  sent  a  memorial  to  all  the 
members  of  the  pharmacopoeial  convention  of  1910  asking  for  this 
action  and  assigning  as  reasons  why  such  action  should  be  taken  that 
best  physicians  were  not  using  this  agent  any  longer." 

The  announcer  makes  this  statement:  "Though  at  present  there  is 
no  national  department  of  Parlor  Meetings  and  Red  Letter  Days  of 
which  for  so  many  years  A-Irs.  Mary  Davis  Tomlinson  was  the  na- 
tional superintendent  (now  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  superintendent), 
in  many  states  it  still  strengthens  the  local  unions  by  adding  many 
active  and  honorary  members  to  the  ranks.  These  meetings  bring 
together  socially  not  only  white  ribboners,  but  also  those  who  would 
not  attend  gatherings  in  churches  and  halls.  The  observance  of  the 
national  red  letter  days  familiarizes  many  people  with  the  leaders  of 
the  past,  who  have  aided  in  bringing  the  victories,  and  many  of 
the  present  who  are  helping  formulate  progressive  plans  for  the  future. 
These  red  letter  days  are:  January  16 — birthday  of  National  Con- 
stitutional Prohibition — Lillian  Stevens  Legislative  Fund  Day;  Feb- 
ruary 17 — Frances  E.  Willard  Memorial  Fund  Day;  March  20 — 
Union  Signal  Subscription  Day;  April  14 — ^Young  People's  Branch 
Day  (birthday  of  Frances  J.  Barnes)  ;  May  11 — Mother's  Day;  June 
9 — Flower  Mission  Day  (birthday  of  Jennie  Casseday)  ;  July  4 — 
National  Independence  Day  (birthday  of  Mary  H.  Hunt)  ;  July  21 — 
Loyal  Temperance  Legion  Day  (birthday  of  Anna  A.  Gordon)  ;  July  31 
— White  Ribbon  Missionary  Day  (birthday  of  Mary  Allen  West)  ; 
August  3 — Fresh  Air  Mission  Day  (birthday  of  Lady  Henry  Somer- 
set) ;  August  28 — (birthday  of  Lucy  Webb  Hayes)  ;  September  28 — 
Children's  Harvest  Home  and  Young  Crusader  Day  (birthday  of 
Frances  E.  Willard);  World's  Temperance  Sunday — {The  Union 
Signal  will  announce  date)  ;  December  23 — Crusade  and  Pioneers'  Day." 

The  announcer  says:  "The  department  of  Parliamentary  Usage 
owes  much  to  its  first  superintendent,  Mrs.  A.  S.  Benjamin  of  Mich- 
igan, who  was  elected  in  1887  and  served  with  distinction  until  1917. 
Mrs.  Benjamin  was  the  acknowledged  authority  upon  all  points  of  par- 
liamentary law  and  usage  and  her  published  'studies'  were  widely  used. 
The  present  national  superintendent  of  Parliamentary  Usage,  Mrs.  L 
W.  Gleason,  elected  in  1917,  gives  these  as  the  high  points  of  her  pro- 
gram: 'The  aim  of  this  department  is  to  assist  an  assembly  to  ac- 
complish the  work  for  which  it  was  organized — in  the  best  possible 


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Women    To  rc  h  -  b  barer  s 


manner.  We  are  trained  in  our  unions,  through  parliamentary  law, 
to  conform  to  law  and  order  because  parliamentary  law  teaches  disci- 
pline, obedience,  and  respect  for  law  and  order;  and  as  our  lives  reflect 
action,  we  impress  and  are  impressed  by  proceeding  always  in  order. 
This  makes  it  easier  to  obey  laws  that  are  made  for  the  benefit  of  city, 
state,  and  nation.'  " 

The  national  superintendent  of  the  department  of  Peace  and  Arbi- 
tration, Mrs.  Effie  Danforth  McAfee,  says:  "This  department  seeks 
to  do  away  with  the  causes  which  underlie  war;  with  prejudice,  race 
hatred,  religious  animosity,  cut-throat  rivalry  in  commerce  and  with 
exploitation.  The  department  seeks  to  bring  about  the  spirit  of  co- 
operation, of  fellowship  and  unity  of  all  in  spiritual  brotherhood. 
Drastic  laws  imposed  from  without  are  not  so  potent  as  the  guidance 
of  the  indwelling  spirit  and  for  each  individual  to  manifest  the  Golden 
Rule." 

Mrs.  Minnie  Barker  Horning,  national  superintendent  of  Prison 
Reform,  seeks  "to  educate  for  the  building  of  Christian  character  and 
for  the  reformation  of  life  prisoners  in  the  jails  and  penitentiaries. 
Efforts  are  made  for  proper  housing,  cleanliness  and  health  safeguards; 
for  the  indeterminate  sentence  and  parole ;  for  the  appointment  of  women 
on  the  prison  boards  of  every  state;  for  women  physicians,  guards,  and 
attendants  for  women  prisoners. 

"The  department  assists  the  families  of  prisoners  by  teaching  Eng- 
lish and  American  ways  when  necessary.  Foreign  prisoners  are  taught 
English;  employment  and  aid  are  given  to  discharged  prisoners.  The 
department  helped  make  favorable  public  sentiment  for  the  In- 
dustrial Home  for  Federal  women  prisoners;  and  for  the  segregation 
of  the  juvenile  delinquent." 

Mrs.  Emma  L.  Starrett,  national  superintendent  of  Sabbath  Ob- 
servance, says:  "The  department  is  waging  a  constructive  nation-wide 
campaign  of  education  to  preserve  the  sanctity  of  the  Sabbath;  and  to 
resist  legislative  enactment  for  a  commercialized  Sabbath.  As  all  law 
is  based  upon  the  Ten  Commandments  and  as  'Remember  the  Sabbath 
Day  to  keep  it  holy,'  is  a  direct  command  of  God,  we  believe  that  the 
enforcement  of  His  law  involves  the  enforcement  of  all  law.  The 
question  should  be  studied  from  the  viewpoint  of  safeguarding  home 
interests  and  protection  of  all  in  their  right  for  one  day  of  rest  and 
worship  as  has  been  ruled  by  the  Supreme  Court." 


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Our    Golden    Jubilee 


Miss  Cora  Frances  Stoddard,  national  director  of  Scientific  Tem- 
perance Instruction  in  the  Public  Schools  and  Scientific  Temperance  In- 
vestigation, gives  by  special  request  extracts  from  the  address  she  pre- 
sented at  the  fifteenth  International  Congress  Against  Alcoholism  held  in 
Washington,  D.  C,  September  24,  1920.  Not  only  is  it  of  historical 
value  but  it  points  the  v^^ay  for  future  work.  Miss  Stoddard  says: 
"The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  early  turned  to  the  slow 
and  arduous  but  constructive  task  of  rearing  a  whole  new  generation 
— several  generations  if  need  be — in  the  principles  of  total  abstinence. 
For  several  years  after  this  society  was  organizing  its  forces  it  suc- 
ceeded in  securing  the  adoption  of  the  Sir  Benjamin  Ward  Richardson 
'Temperance  Lesson  Book'  in  public  schools.  Yet  public  school  tem- 
perance instruction  in  its  fullness  awaited  its  leader.  It  was  this 
leader,  Mrs.  Mary  H.  Hunt,  who  twice  stood  before  this  Congress, 
in  Brussels,  in  1897  and  Bremen  in  1903,  whose  vision  and  capacity  for 
organization  finally  made  temperance  instruction  of  the  children  of  the 
United  States  a  part  of  the  regular  school  instruction. 

"What  were  its  scope  and  principles?  It  was  plannned  to  reach 
all  the  children.  To  do  this  it  was  made  compulsory ;  hence  the  twenty 
years  of  legislative  work  that  put  a  law  requiring  temperance  education 
on  the  statute  books  of  every  state  and  of  Congress  for  schools  under 
Federal  control.  It  was  made  a  part  of  instruction  in  hygiene.  The 
temperance  education  movement  in  the  United  States,  beginning  forty 
years  ago,  not  only  brought  temperance  instruction  into  the  schools, 
but  it  is  also  to  be  credited  with  introducing  instruction  in  general  hy- 
giene. Knowledge  of  hygiene  was  good  in  itself  for  the  rising  gene- 
ration, but  by  including  in  it  the  scientific  temperance  instruction,  the 
temperance  teaching  was  given  a  logical,  reasonable  place  in  the  child's 
thoughts.  Thus  the  ideal  future  instruction  was  the  teaching  of  scien- 
tific facts  in  a  form  that  the  child  could  understand. 

"Suitable  textbooks  were  secured  and  required.  These  were  pub- 
lished by  the  regular  school  text-book  publishing  houses.  By  the  first 
years  of  the  twentieth  century  the  temperance  forces  had  so  far  won 
that  scientific  temperance  instruction  was  not  only  a  recognized  and 
legal  part  of  the  educational  system  of  the  entire  country,  but  it  had 
for  its  assistance  a  variety  of  textbooks  adapted  to  all  ages  of  pupils 
— books  whose  teaching  had  kept  pace  with  the  scientific  progress  of 
the  years. 


201 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


"Another  principle  of  the  Scientific  Temperance  Instruction  depart- 
ment has  been  that  thorough  teaching  should  be  given  in  the  early  years 
of  the  child's  school  course.  While  provision  w^as  made  for  continuing 
it  into  the  later  years,  there  has  been  general  agreement  as  to  the  neces- 
sity of  this  thorough  teaching  before  the  end  of  the  child's  sixth  school 
year — that  is,  before  he  is  eleven  or  twelve  years  old.  In  the  case  of 
thousands  of  foreign-born  children  later  to  become  citizens,  the  lower 
grades  are  their  only  chance  of  being  taught  total  abstinence  facts. 
Handicapped  by  the  necessity  of  learning  a  new  language,  they  otten 
leave  school  to  go  to  work  before  they  reach  the  upper  elementary 
grades.  The  fundamental  reason  for  early  instruction  is  always  the 
importance  of  training  to  sobriety  in  the  habit-forming  period.  The 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  not  only  had  the  vision  of  what 
was  to  be  achieved,  but  by  the  ramifications  of  its  organization  it  was 
able  to  bring  public  sentiment  to  bear  when  and  where  needed.  Fathers 
and  mothers  saw  in  this  scientific  temperance  instruction  a  chance  to 
save  their  children  from  the  danger  of  alcoholism. 

"Many  factors  have  entered  into  the  progress  of  the  American  tem- 
perance movement,  but  it  is  generally  conceded  that  the  temperance 
education  of  the  children  for  more  than  a  generation  has  been  a  power- 
ful force  in  abolishing  the  legalized  liquor  traffic.  Not  until  about 
1890  had  sufficient  temperance  educational  legislation  been  enacted  to 
make  the  instruction  fairly  general,  though  all  through  the  preceding 
decade  it  was  being  extended.  For  still  another  decade,  up  to  1901, 
legislative  work  continued  and  the  struggle  was  going  on  to  get  sound 
total  abstinence  teaching  introduced  into  the  schools.  The  children 
who  began  school  in  1885  were  voters  about  1900.  The  children  who 
began  in  1890  were  coming  to  their  majority  about  1905.  It  is 
necessary  to  recall  that  practically  half  a  lifetime  is  required  before  a 
child  taught  the  truth  begins  to  exert  any  public  influence  with  it.  But 
all  through  these  years  there  were  coming  to  maturity  ever-increasing 
tens  of  thousands  of  school  children  who  had  been  taught  why  alcohol 
is  an  enemy  to  human  welfare. 

"The  enactment  of  state  prohibition  laws  which  culminated  in  na- 
tional prohibition  began  to  gain  momentum  in  1907.  Of  its  sources  the 
Hon.  Samuel  J.  Barrows  of  the  International  Prison  Commission 
(1896)  said,  in  1898,  that  one  reason  for  the  growth  of  temperance 
sentiment  was  the  fact  that  systematic  temperance  teaching  of  youth 


202 


Our    Goilden    Jubilee 


had  been  going  on  for  years  and  the  result  of  this  education  has  been 
telling  in  the  boj's  and  girls  who  have  grown  to  manhood  and  woman- 
hood. A  new  generation  has  grown  up  and  has  found  that  alcoholic 
drinks  are  not  necessary  for  health  or  happiness. 

"The  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education,  Hon.  W.  T. 
Harris,  had  said,  in  his  report  for  1900-1901,  concerning  temperance 
instruction  in  the  public  schools  in  the  United  States:  'It  may  be  said 
that  this  movement  is  the  most  effective  one  ever  devised  by  the  friends 
of  temperance  to  abate  a  great  evil — one  of  the  greatest  evils  abroad 
in  the  land.'  Twenty  years  later,  on  the  eve  of  constitutional  prohi- 
bition becoming  effective,  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Educa- 
tion, Hon.  P.  P.  Claxton,  wrote:  'With  all  persons  who  are  interested 
in  the  education  of  children,  in  the  upbuilding  of  humanity  and  the 
attainment  of  the  highest  ideals  of  democracy,  I  rejoice  at  the  coming 
of  prohibition  for  the  United  States.  In  the  creation  of  a  sentiment 
which  has  resulted  first  in  local  option,  then  in  state  prohibition  and 
now  in  national  prohibition,  the  schools  of  the  country  have  played  a 
very  important  part,  in  fact,  probably  a  major  part.  It  is  a  good  illus- 
tration of  the  truth  of  the  saying  that  "Whatsoever  we  want  in  the 
nation  in  the  next  generation  we  should  put  into  the  schools  of  this  gene- 
ration. 

"So  much  for  the  past.  What  of  the  future?  Is  the  scientific  tem- 
perance instruction  to  be  continued?  The  general  opinion  of  the  state 
educational  officials  is  that  it  should  be  continued.  The  reasons  given 
are  that  it  is  necessary  to  acquaint  all  children  now  in  the  schools  and 
especially  newcomers  of  foreign  parentage  with  the  reasons  for  the 
position  the  United  States  has  taken  against  alcoholic  drinks.  That  is 
important  to  insure  an  intelligent  public  sentiment  to  prevent  or  over- 
come illicit  manufacture  and  sale  of  alcoholic  beverages;  that  there 
should  be  continued  warning  as  to  the  alcoholic  dangers  in  wine  and 
beer  and  in  home-made  fermented  beverages. 

"Present-day  discussions  of  the  alcohol  question  indicate  certain 
lines  of  instruction  that  are  still  necessary  if  we  are  to  knit  up  the  loose 
ends  of  public  knowledge  about  alcohol.  Instruction  is  still  needed 
along  four  points:  first,  that  alcohol  with  its  habit-forming  power  is  in 
even  the  lighter  forms  of  alcoholic  beverages;  second,  the  depressing 
effects  of  even  small  quantities  of  alcohol  upon  physical  and  mental 
activities  and  upon  self-control;  third,  the  lower  resistence  to  disease 


203 


Women    Torch-bearers 


which  may  be  due  to  continued  drinking  of  quantities  of  alcohol  insuf- 
ficient to  cause  drunkenness;  the  fact  that  alcoholic  intoxication  is  not 
measured  by  drunkenness  alone  but  by  every  characteristic  effect  of 
alcohol  showing  proven  inefficiency  or  depression  at  any  stage  in  the 
drinker's  condition  below  that  of  visible  drunkenness. 

"The  real  'kings'  and  'princes'  of  the  future  will  be  the  men  and 
women  who  rise  to  their  full  capacity  of  powers  and  exercise  them  for 
the  common  good.  Alcohol  defeats  both  these  ends.  Hence,  as  one 
means  of  insuring  that  our  kings  and  princes  may  not  'forget  the  law 
and  pervert  justice'  we  are  putting  away  alcohol.  The  American  dem- 
ocracy of  the  future  wants  no  drunkards,  but  more  than  that  it  wants 
a  citizenship  free  from  the  minor  demoralizations  of  alcohol.  To  this 
end,  we  must  pledge  ourselves  to  maintain  the  temperance  training  of 
all  our  children,  confident  that  our  public  schools  will  go  loyally  for- 
ward in  this  part  of  their  great  responsibility." 

By  request,  Miss  Stodddard  gave,  in  closing,  her  latest  condensed 
statement  regarding  scientific  temperance  instruction  in  the  public 
schools : 

"The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  was  primarily  influ- 
ential in  introducing  into  the  public  schools  of  the  United  States  In- 
struction as  to  the  nature  and  efiFects  of  alcoholic  drinks,  and  other  nar- 
cotics. The  work  always  has  been  based  on  the  principles  that  preven- 
tion is  better  than  cure;  that  childhood  and  youth  are  entitled  to  know 
the  facts  of  modern  science  showing  the  dangers  in  the  non-medical  use 
of  these  substances;  that  it  is  to  the  advantage  of  the  nation  that  the 
children  be  trained  to  the  practice  of  intelligent  sobriety.  The  laws 
secured,  at  the  instance  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union, 
in  practically  all  states  requiring  such  instruction  as  a  part  of  instruc- 
tion in  physiology  and  hygiene  not  only  carried  this  special  teaching 
into  the  schools,  but  opened  the  door  legally  for  all  health  teaching  and 
training. 

"While  the  instruction  is  in  the  hands  of  the  teachers  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  supplements  it  by  reference  material  and 
periodicals  placed  in  school  libraries,  and  conducts  prize  essays  and  poster 
contests.  Thousands  of  dollars  annually  are  expended  by  the  local,  state 
and  national  organizations  in  awards  for  these  competitions  in  which 
nearly  150,000  pupils  of  elementary  and  high  school  grades,  teachers,  and 
normal  school  students  participate.  Special  lecturers  are  furnished  to  and 


204 


Our    Golden    Jubilee 


welcomed  by  the  schools  in  some  states,  in  addition  to  national  lec- 
turers who  bring  information  as  to  material  and  methods  to  teachers, 
colleges,  normal  schools,  summer  schools,  and  institutes.  Exhibits  of 
pupils'  work  and  of  helpful  illustrative  material  are  shown  at  the  edu- 
cational meetings." 

Dr.  Valeria  H.  Parker,  a  governmental  expert  in  the  line  of  Social 
Morality  and  national  director  of  this  department,  makes  the  follow- 
ing statement: 

"Progress  has  been  made  in  the  five-fold  program  of  social  morality 
which  is  fostered  by  our  organization.  The  education  of  the  child  for 
life  in  home,  church,  and  school ;  the  establishment  of  community  pro- 
tective measures;  the  development  and  supervision  of  wholesome  recrea- 
tion ;  the  enforcement  of  laws  governing  moral  conduct ;  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  opportunities  for  treatment  of  those  infected  with  diseases 
which  especially  hamper  racial  development,  are  among  the  responsi- 
bilities of  the  Christian  citizens  of  today. 

"A  visit  to  those  countries  where  vice  is  protected  and  official  at- 
tempts are  made  to  regulate  prostitution,  fills  one  with  gratitude  that 
the  United  States  is  among  the  countries  which  have  abandoned  official 
compromise  with  this  evil.  We  must  not,  however,  ignore  the  need  of 
organized  and  continued  activity  in  constructive  work  if  we  are  to  main- 
tain a  nation-wide  protection  of  those  forces  upon  which  married  love 
and  parenthood  are  based.  Miss  Grace  Leigh  Scott  is  our  successful 
Social  Morality  field  worker." 

The  announcer  says:  "From  the  beginning  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 
bravely  has  championed  the  cause  of  social  purity  and  the  White  Cross 
movement,  and  it  has  helped  to  raise  in  many  states  the  'age  of  con- 
sent' from  ten  to  eighteen  years." 

Miss  Rebecca  Naomi  Rhoads,  head  of  the  department  of  Soldiers 
and  Sailors,  in  speaking  of  "Our  Purpose,"  says:  "This  department  is 
devoted  to  the  best  interests  of  soldiers,  sailors,  marines,  seamen,  coast 
guards,  and  sea-faring  men  of  all  classes  and  lands,  and  operates  on  a 
constructive  program  co-operating  with  the  government  in  its  welfare 
work.  We  aim  to  bring  to  these  men  everywhere,  especially  in  the 
loneliest  and  most  desolate  spots  and  in  the  hospitals,  good-cheer  and 
the  homelike  touch;  to  give  them  good  things  to  eat,  good  things  o 
read,  and  good  thoughts  to  think;  to  provide  for  them  religious  and 
moral  influences  and  arouse  their  interest  in  learning  of  the  danger  in 


205 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


intoxicating  liquor  and. habit-forming  drugs;  to  enlist  their  interest  in 
the  enforcement  of  our  prohibitory  laws,  supplying  literature  to  com- 
bat the  wide-spread  liquor  propaganda.  To  encourage  the  opening  of 
homelike  places  where  they  can  have  pleasant  social  influences,  and  the 
right  kind  of  relaxation  and  amusement. 

"A  large  number  of  men  are  still  suffering  in  the  hospital  from  war- 
time casualties,  but  I  believe  that  through  their  recovery  the  country 
will  soon  be  freed  from  the  support  of  these  heroes.  Every  soldier  and 
sailor  needs  true  friends  to  counteract  the  temptations  which  are  con- 
tinually thrown  in  his  way.  In  Constantinople,  I  learned  of  the  un- 
published heroism  of  American  sailors  when  the  city  of  Smyrna  was 
burned.  The  coast  guards  have  taken  on  thousands  of  men  for  pro- 
hibition enforcement  work  and  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  should  remember 
them  with  gifts  and  magazines.  Very  few  soldiers  and  sailors  know 
the  truth  about  prohibition.  They  are  the  victims  of  an  extensive 
wet  propaganda.  However,  I  always  have  found  them  responding 
readily  to  the  truth. 

"During  recent  extended  visitations  to  army  camps,  including  east; 
ern,  southern,  and  middle  states,  I  have  been  much  encouraged  because 
our  nation's  defenders  have  taken  such  thoughtful  interest  in  our  great 
cause  and  have  responded  to  the  religious  appeal.  At  some  camps 
hundreds  of  boys  attended  the  meetings.  I  have  an  encouraging  list  of 
signers  to  the  patriotic  roll  with  its  total  abstinence  pledge.  The  com- 
manding officers  and  chaplains  are  all  cordial  and  express  appreciation 
of  the  work  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  Soldiers  and  Sailors  department." 

"The  Sunday  School  department,"  says  the  announcer,  "was  organ- 
ized in  1877.  Miss  Lucia  E.  F.  Kimball  of  Maine,  the  first  superin- 
tendent, served  with  distinction  until  1893.  Mrs.  Julia  Bidwell  of 
New  York  for  one  year  ably  filled  the  position.  The  present  superin- 
tendent of  the  department,  Mrs.  Stella  B.  Irvine,  was  elected  in  1894, 
In  1881,  Frances  Willard  presented  a  memorial  to  the  International 
Sunday  School  Lesson  Committee,  asking  for  a  quarterly  temperance 
lesson.  In  1885,  in  part,  this  request  was  granted.  The  memorial  of 
1890,  presented  by  Miss  Willard  at  the  Pittsburgh  International  Sun- 
day School  Convention,  asked  that  the  lesson  be  placed,  not  on  the  Sun- 
day given  also  to  the  Quarterly  Review,  but  should  be  assigned  a  distinct 
place  in  the  'Series' — uncomplicated  with  other  subjects.  This  memo- 
rial was  granted.     The  favorable  action  was  confirmed  in  1893  by  the 


206 


Our    Goilden    Jubilee 


St.  Louis  International  Sunday  School  Convention,  and  again  in  1896  by 
the  Boston  International  Sunday  School  Convention.  Mrs.  Irvine  has 
made  this  great  department  of  Sunday  School  work  known  around  the 
world.  Her  bureau  of  literature,  now  carried  at  the  National  W.  C. 
T.  U.  Publishing  House,  for  many  years  has  given  to  unnumbered  Sun- 
day schools  the  facts  needed  for  use  in  the  Quarterly  Temperance  Les- 
sons." Mrs.  Irvine  now  speaks:  "This  department  aims  to  accom- 
plish the  teaching  of  total  abstinence  with  pledge  signing  in  every  de- 
partment in  the  Sunday  school  co-operating  with  the  World's  Sunday 
School  department  in  the  World's  pledge  signing  campaign;  it  aims  to 
promote  the  training  of  the  youth  in  Christian  citizenship  and  to  enlist 
the  adults  of  the  Sunday  school  in  social  and  moral  reform  and  in  the 
enforcement  law;  also,  to  secure  the  co-operation  of  Sunday  school  les- 
son writers  and  publishers  of  Sunday  school  lesson  helps.  The  depart- 
ment works  to  the  end  that  the  Sunday  school  training  shall  be  em- 
bodied in  the  curricula  provided  for  week-day  and  vacation  Bible  schools 
and  community  training  schools." 

"Temperance  and  Missions,"  says  Mrs.  Caroline  McDowell,  na- 
tional superintendent,  "is  a  popular,  progressive  department.  It  is  un- 
limited in  its  scope  and  reaches  out  to  every  W.  C.  T.  U.  activity, 
extending  the  helping  hand  to  every  human  being.  The  departm.ent 
aims  to  secure  a  live  temperance  secretary  in  each  local  missionary  so- 
ciety and  a  missionary  secretary  in  each  local  W.  C.  T.  U. 

"It  is  the  church  in  action;  it  co-operates  with  church  and  mis- 
sionary boards  in  America  and  other  lands.  As  a  vital  factor  in  mak- 
ing known  the  victorious  program  of  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.,  the 
department  of  Temperance  and  Missions  is  not  only  national,  but  in- 
ternational. In  the  United  States,  it  is  a  powerful  ally  of  all  home 
missionary  work  and  is  in  helpful  touch  with  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  depart- 
ment of  Americanization.  Life  and  memorial  members  ($100.00  each) 
for  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  are  secured." 

"Mrs.  McDowell,"  adds  the  annnouncer,  "is  a  generous  giver  to 
this  work  and  for  several  years  duplicated  the  money  received  for  life 
and  memorial  memberships  in  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  Through  this 
department,  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  organizers  receive  much  helpful 
literature.  Never  have  relations  between  church  missionary  societies 
and  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  been  so  close  and  cordial  as  today.     Through 

207 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


Mrs.  McDowell,  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  hag  kept  in  close  co-operation  with 
evangelistic  and  missionary  circles." 

"In  its  present  development,  one  of  the  newest  national  departments 
is  that  of  Women  in  Industry,  says  the  announcer.  "In  1880,  the 
national  Department  of  Temperance  and  Labor  was  created  and  has 
had  many  titles.  In  1895,  the  name  was  changed  to  Relation  of  Tem- 
perance and  Labor,  and  Mrs.  Mary  G.  Stuckenberg  was  made  national 
superintendent.  In  1905,  Mrs.  Mae  Whitman  became  the  head  of  the 
department.  She  was  followed  by  Mrs.  Lucia  H.  F.  Additon.  The 
present  national  W.  C.  T.  U.  director,  Mrs.  Laura  Parks  Miller,  was 
appointed  in  1921.  Under  the  title,  'The  Spirit  of  Organized  Mother 
Love,*  Mrs.  Miller  recounts  the  benefits  through  this  department 
given  and  received": 


1875 


1881 


In 

following 
years 

In  the 
80's 
and 
90's 

Through 

the 

years 


1917-18 
(War  Years) 

Now 


GAVE 

First  Creed  of  Industrial 
Justice  Adopted  in  Amer- 
ica. 

Friendship  with  railroad 
men,  Jennnie  Smith's  shop 
meetings,  religious  and 
temperance  messages. 
Street  car  men,  firemen, 
policemen,  postmen,  fac- 
tory and  mill  workers  all 
included. 

Discussion  of  "relation  of 
intemperance  to  capital  as 
well  as  to  labor." 
Support  of  measures  for 
physical  and  moral  health 
of  workers  such  as  shorter 
work  day,  the  living 
wage,  one  day  rest  in 
seven. 

Health  laws  accelerated 
especially  for  girls  and 
women  entering  industry. 
Friendship  with  newer 
groups  of  women. 

208 


RECEIVED 
1191       conversions      and 
pledges  in  next  two  years 
— wide  influence  for  tem- 
perance. 

Better  family  life,  chil- 
dren reared  in  belief  in 
temperance,  S.  T.  I.  made 
popular,  votes  for  dry 
territory. 

With  growth  of  scientific 
temperance  investigation, 
support  of  prohibition  by 
employers  on  economic 
lines. 

Scientific  support  of  our 
pledge  for  growth  of  "law 
and  custom  for  justice  as 
opposed  to  greed  of 
gain,"  in  growing  under- 
standing of  alcoholism  as 
a  result  of  industrial 
fatigue. 

Support  by  great  numbers 
of  "labor"  women  as  well 
as  "home"  women. 


Our     Golden     Jubilee 


The  national  superintendent  of  Work  Among  Negroes,  Mrs.  Mar- 
vin Williams,  says:  ''The  department  aims  to  build  up  stronger  pub- 
lic sentiment  among  the  negroes  of  the  United  States  in  favor  of  total 
abstinence,  social  purity,  and  prohibition,  to  the  end  that  our  vs^hole 
nation  may  be  strengthened  by  a  better  type  of  citizenship,  w^hile  raising 
the  standards  of  personal  living  and  an  increased  number  of  godly 
homes.  It  aims  also,  to  cause  an  arrest  of  Christian  thinking  among 
the  white  leaders  of  the  W,  C.  T.  U.  in  the  various  states,  to  the  end 
that  a  deeper  sense  of  responsibility  may  be  felt  for  the  education  in 
W.  C.  T.  U.  principles  of  the  negro  race," 

"The  aim  of  the  Evangelistic  department,"  says  its  national  superin- 
tendent, Mrs.  Mary  Harris  Armor,  "is,  that  through  faith  and  prayer 
— through  the  study  of  God's  word  and  dissemination  of  the  same — 
the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  may  have  increasing  moral 
and  spiritual  power,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  strenuous  activities,  evei7 
woman  may  hold  fast  her  anchorage  to  the  vital,  spiiitual  things  that 
*In  all  things  He  might  have  the  pre-eminence.'  " 

The  fervent,  spiritual  power  that  enabled  Mrs.  Armor  to  lead  to 
victory  the  women  of  her  state  when  Georgia  went  dry,  has  ever  been 
hers,  as  she  has  given  with  fire  and  logic,  in  this  country  and  others, 
her  compelling  messages.  By  request,  she  sends  out  at  this,  time  of  re- 
ligious, social  and  political  unrest,  the  following  call  for  prayer: 

"Some  one  has  said ;  'Whoever  sets  the  church  to  praying  will  per- 
form the  greater  service  to  God  and  man,'  and  doubtless  this  is  true, 
for  'nothing  stirs  the  central  wheel  of  the  soul  like  the  breath  ot 
God.' 

"In  the  large  freedom  that  has  come  to  woman  today,  there  Im- 
pends a  crisis  such  as  the  world  never  before  confronted.  In  the  past, 
girlhood  was  compassed  about  with  barriers  which,  while  they  meant 
restraint,  also  meant  protection.  Today,  there  is  not  a  barrier  raised 
in  the  social,  industrial,  or  political  world.  Chaperones  are  a  thing  of 
the  past.  Woman  enters  every  occupation  from  digging  ditches  to 
practicing  law  or  medicine.  In  politics,  she  may  hold  any  position  she 
can  win;  the  whole  field  is  open  to  her.  If  our  daughters,  entering 
into  this  rough  commingling  with  men,  go  in  purity  and  strength  of 
mind  and  body;  in  dignity  and  self-control;  and  in  the  old  sweetness 
and  modesty  of  womanhood — if  they  thus  enter,  they  will  purify  and 
glorify  every  place  they  enter;  they  will  lift  with  tireless  strength  and 

209 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


Grodlike  patience,  until  there  shall  dawn  that  golden  age  of  which 
Frances  Willard  dreamed,  when  'Men  and  women,  hand  in  hand,  shall 
stand  on  equal  heights  of  purity  and  peace.'  But  if  they  lower  their 
standard,  if  this  new  freedom  causes  them  to  adopt  the  vices  of  men, 
race  degeneration  and,  eventually,  race  extinction  must  follow.  Twen- 
tieth century  science  says:  'The  smallest  dose  of  alcohol  lowers  the 
moral  tone  and  weakens  self-control  just  in  proportion  to  the  amount 
of  alcohol  ingested,  and  every  succeeding  dose  increases  the  disaster.' 
Oh,  for  the  leaping  fire  of  a  great  conviction  which,  in  view  of  these 
facts,  will  send  us  to  our  knees  in  honest,  earnest,  believing  prayer! 
Then  up  from  our  knees  to  go  out  'with  faith  illumined  and  high  heart 
of  grace,'  and  so  preach  the  gospel  of  purity  and  total  abstinence  that 
we  may  arouse  every  indifferent  woman  and  persuade  her  to  enlist  in 
the  ranks  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union.  Only  by  bap- 
tizing all  work  with  prayer  and  following  all  prayer  with  work,  can  we 
attain  our  end." 

"Listeners  in"  again  are  invited  to  "stand  by,"  for  the  resourceful, 
treasurer  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Mrs.  Margaret  C.  Munns, 
will  tell  her  invisible  audience  how  the  Jubilee  dollars  have  aided 
many  of  these  departments.  Listen  to  Mrs.  Munns:  ''The  financing 
of  the  several  departments  budgeted  under  the  Jubilee  Fund,  has  made 
it  possible  to  secure  the  services  of  experts  to  lead  these  departments, 
and  as  never  before,  the  broad  scope  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  has  been  rec- 
ognized. It  is  the  day  of  the  specialist  and  an  organization  that  would 
serve  the  present  generation  must  have  trained  leadership.  Very  for- 
tunate is  the  organization  that  can  secure  for  a  modest  emolument,  the 
services  of  such  leaders.  It  is  the  same  self-sacrificing  spirit  that  has 
actuated  the  workers  from  the  beginning,  though  volunteer  service  can- 
not alwa5^s  be  given. 

"The  Americanization  department  conducted  training  schools  in 
Chautauqua,  New  York,  New  York  City,  and  Chicago  for  two  A'ears  in 
M'hich  a  number  of  talented  young  women  were  trained.  Of  these,  six  be- 
came field  secretaries  and  several  others  are  located  in  Americanization 
Centers  where  they  are  doing  excellent  work.  With  the  hope  of  reaching 
many  more  than  could  attend  a  training  school,  a  correspondence  course 
was  established  which  is  proving  helpful  to  those  interested  in  learning 
the  best  methods  of  reaching  their  foreign-born  neighbors.  Americaniza- 
tion Centers  were  aided  f*^^  one  year  in  Bridgeport,  Connecticut;  St. 


210 


Our     Golden     Jubilee 


Louis  and  Kansas  Citj'-,  Missouri ;  for  two  years  in  Pittsburgh ;  Seattle ; 
Baltimore;  Passaic,  New  Jersey;  San  Francisco;  Flint,  Michigan;  In- 
dianapolis; Cleveland  and  Omaha,  Nebraska.  Small  appropriations 
have  been  given  the  Centers  in  Carlsbad,  New  Mexico,  and  Emporia, 
Kansas.  The  immigrant  station  at  Ellis  Island  is  supplied  with  a  white- 
ribbon  missionary  who  meets  the  immigrant  with  welcoming  hand  and 
sympathetic  heart. 

"The  department  of  Child  Welfare  has  fostered  Mother-Child 
Center?  which  have  proved  blessings  to  the  hundreds  of  mothers  and 
children  who  have  come  under  their  influence.  For  over  a  year  the 
department  maintained  such  a  Center  in  Detroit  and  for  more  than  an- 
other year  partial  support  was  given.  Help  was  also  extended  to 
a  Mother-Child  Center  in  Toledo  and  among  the  colored  people  in 
Washington,  D.  C.  The  largest  contribution,  $50,000,  has  been  made  to 
the  Child  Welfare  Research  department  of  the  University  of  Iowa, 
the  first  to  establish  a  Research  department  for  an  extensive  study  of  the 
normal  child.  Our  Loyal  Temperance  Union  work  has  been  supported 
under  the  Child  Welfare  division  of  the  budget. 

"The  work  of  the  fundamental  department  of  Scientific  Temper- 
ance Instruction  has  won  the  plaudits  of  the  world.  The  very  neces- 
sary maintenance  of  the  high  standard  of  this  scientific  phase  of  anti- 
aJcohol  education  has  been  made  possible  by  the  Jubilee  Fund.  Scien- 
tific research,  which  includes  the  invaluable  findings  of  the  New  York 
investigations,  lectures  before  schools,  colleges  and  teachers'  associations, 
the  promotion  of  essay  and  poster  contests  and  the  exhibits  at  great  edu- 
cational meetings,  may  not  be  spectacular,  but  they  are  very  essential  in 
reaching  the  coming  generation  with  the  truth. 

"Without  publicity,  the  world  at  large  would  never  know  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.  existed  except  as  false  reports  are  furnished  by  its  oppo- 
nents. Our  Publicity  director  can  show  many  thousands  of  items  clipped 
from  local  papers  all  over  the  country  which  have  been  furnished  by 
her,  concerning  the  work  of  the  organization  and  the  results  of  pro- 
hibition. A  correspondence  course  has  proved  a  valuable  aid  to  local 
press  workers. 

"Social  Morality  is  one  of  the  crying  needs  of  the  day  and  the 
department,  through  the  spoken  and  written  word,  has  made  a  valuable 
contribution  to  a  constructive  policy  for  a  higher  moral  plane  for  our 
country.    Especially  helpful  has  been  the  direct  contact  with  the  young 


211 


Women    Torc  h- b  barer  s 


people  of  the  public  schools  and  work-shops  through  the  lectures  of  the 
department.  Because  they  believe  prevention  is  better  than  cure,  the 
New  Mexico  white-ribboners  founded  a  school  for  Spanish-American 
girls  who  need  home  care.  The  Jubilee  Fund  has  contributed  $10,000 
to  this  school  started  by  a  small  band  of  workers  in  a  missionary  state. 

"The  department  of  Health,  also  financed  by  this  fund,  nas  been 
active  and  persistent  in  its  constructive  policy.  The  W.  C.  T.  U., 
through  this  department,  made  the  first  contribution  to  the  Woman's 
Foundation  for  Health.  For  a  year  and  a  half  the  department  of 
Christifn  Citizenship  was  financed  by  the  Jubilee  Fund.  Mrs.  Deborah 
Knox  Livingston's  valuable  contribution  to  our  great  program  of  citi- 
zenship is  M'ell  known  and  the  department  has  been  a  force  for  right- 
eousness. Women  who  work  for  a  wage  comprise  a  large  proportion 
of  tne  adult  woman  population.  To  win  these  women  to  sj^mpathetic 
interest  in  prohibition,  to  assist  in  securing  industrial  justice,  is  the 
object  of  the  department  of  Women  in  Industry.  By  literature  and 
by  personal  and  visual  presentation  the  department  is  helping  the  wage- 
earning  woman  to  a  new  vision  of  responsibility. 

"With  a  number  of  department  field  workers  busy  here  and  there, 
it  was  found  difficult  to  route  them  from  several  headquarters  witnout 
loss  of  time.  The  routeing  was  done  with  great  success  by  an  executive 
secretary  of  field  service,  and  was  financed  by  the  Jubilee  Fund.  When 
the  Jubilee  Fund  was  raised,  there  were  many  notable  gifts,  the  largest 
amount,  $5,000,  being  given  by  Mrs.  Caroline  McDowell." 

In  recounting  the  Jubilee  activities  and  gifts,  the  generosity  of 
Frances  E.  Beauchamp  is  gratefully  remembered.  Mrs.  Beauchamp, 
for  twenty  years  the  honored  and  beloved  president  of  the  Kentucky 
W.  C.  T.  U.,  was  the  first  to  respond  to  the  national  president's  special 
appeal  for  gifts  of  $1,000  to  the  Jubilee  Fund.  At  the  time  the  proc- 
lamation for  National  Constitutional  Prohibition  was  issued,  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia  W.  C.  T.  U.  gave  a  banquet  to  visiting  white-ribbon- 
ers. Miss  Gordon  displayed  the  pen,  one  of  quite  a  number  used  by 
acting  Secretary  of  State  Polk  in  signing  the  proclamation.  It  chanced 
to  be  the  first  pen  taken  up  by  Secretary  Polk,  and  with  it  he  wrote  his 
given  name  "Frank."  Miss  Gordon  promised  to  use  this  pen  to  write  a 
letter  of  thanks  to  any  and  all  givers  of  $1,000  to  the  Jubilee  Fund. 
Mrs.  Beauchamp,  with  characteristic  generosity,  immediately  sent  to  the 
platform  her  personal  check  for  $1,000.     The  liquor  traffic  had   no 

212 


Our     Golden     Jubile 


foe  more  determined  and  relentless  than  was  Frances  E.  Beauchamp. 
For  a  decade  Mrs.  Beauchamp  was  a  general  officer  of  the  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.  Her  rugged  zeal  for  state  and  national  prohibition  has 
not  been  surpassed  by  any  of  her  fellow  toilers.  For  many  years  she 
was  a  member  of  the  National  Prohibition  Party  Committee.  Mrs. 
Beauchamp  was  not  only  a  prohibition  warrior,  but  a  great-souled 
philanthropist  and  an  indefatigable  social  welfare  enthusiast.  Hundreds 
of  young  lives  in  the  mountain  schools  of  Kentucky  were  blessed  and 
brightened  by  Frances  E.  Beauchamp.  Her  home  and  her  heart  alike 
were  big  and  hospitable. 

A  handsomely  bound  Book  of  Remembrance  containing  hundreds  of 
names  of  well  known  white-ribboners  and  friends  is  kept  at  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.  headquarters.  On  a  beautifully  illuminated  page  is  this 
inscription:  "Each  name  in  this  Book  of  Remembrance  represents  one 
hundred  dollars  given  to  the  Jubilee  Fund,  the  one-million-dollar  thank 
offering  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  in  celebration  of 
its  fiftieth  anniversary." 

The  national  treasurer  states  that  during  the  fifty  years  a  number 
of  bequests  have  been  received.  Among  the  outstanding  bequests  have 
been  those  of  John  and  Emilie  Martin,  which  together  amounted  to 
$25,272.  Other  bequests  received  were  from  the  estates  of  Mrs.  S.  I. 
Chenoweth,  Ransom  N.  Chaddock,  Daniel  L.  F.  Chase,  Loren  J.  Aus- 
tin, Samuel  Simpson,  George  Woodford,  Mrs.  Buell,  C.  E.  Rumsey, 
Mrs.  H.  B.  Hudson,  Ellen  Mitchell,  F.  A.  Pritchard,  Sarah  Douther, 
M.  J.  Kenney,  Louise  Butler,  Rev.  Joseph  Thomas,  H.  and  K.  Hunt, 
Riley  Memorial,  Belva  M.  Herron,  Mary  E.  Dodds,  Alberta  Pogue, 
Eliza  Warren,  Mary  C.  Sturdy,  Louise  C.  Purington,  Elizabeth  A.  Rus- 
sel,  Agnes  Stebbens,  A.  Nesta,  Lucia  F.  Masslich,  Maryetta  A.  Older, 
Clara  Austin  Shrigley,  Elizabeth  W.  Greenwood,  and  Sarah  L.  Adams. 
In  addition  to  these,  two  bequests  have  been  received  for  the  Frances 
E.  Willard  Memorial  Organizing  Fund  from  the  estates  of  Martha 
Mairs  Turner  and  Jennie  Mitchell. 


213 


CHAPTER  X 

A  Golden  History,-  A  Golden  Prophecy 

"To  be  alive  in  such  an  age 
With  every  year  a  lightning  page 
Turned  in  the  Vi^orld's  great  wonderbook. 
When  every  breath  of  common  air 
Throbs  a  tremendous  prophecy 
Of  things  that  are  to  be. 
When  steel  and  stone  and  rail  and  rod, 
Become  the  avenues  of  God, 
A  trump  to  sound  His  wonder  through 
And  crown  the  work  that  man  may  do. 

"O  age  of  strife!     O  age  of  Life! 
When  progress  rides  her  chariot  high 
And  'neath  the  borders  of  the  sky 
The  signals  of  the  centuries 
Proclaim  the  things  that  are  to  be. 
The  rise  of  woman  to  her  place, 
The  coming  of  a  nobler  race. 

"To  be  alive  in  such  an  age! 
To  live  in  it,  to  give  to  it! 
Rise,  soul,  from  thy  despairing  knees, 
Give  thanks  with  all  thy  flaming  heart. 
Crave  but  to  have  in  it  a  part. 
Give  thanks  and  claim  thy  heritage, 
To  be  alive  in  such  an  age." 

— Angela  Morgan. 

The  national  president  gives  these  reasons  why  the  white-ribbon 
should  be  worn:  "It  is  a  blessed  bond  of  fellowship  among  our  mem- 
bers; it  is  a  privilege  of  which  we  are  proud;  it  is  a  plea  for  purity 
of  life;  it  is  a  pledge  of  total  abstinence;  it  preaches  the  international 
prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic;  it  proclaims  the  gospel  of  peace  and 
a  world-wide  family  of  nations;  it  is  a  prayer  for  home  protection;  it 
predicts  a  safe  path  for  children's  feet;  it  is  an  emblem  of  patriotism; 

214 


Willard  Fountain,  Lincoln  Park,  Chicago,  Illinois  (above) 
W.  C.  T.  U.  Float,  Waterbury,  Conn. 


A    Golden    History;    a    Golden    Prophecy 


it  is  a  protest  against  the  drink  habit  and  the  liquor  traffic;  it  is  a 
promise  of  hope  to  the  tempted  and  help  to  the  suffering;  it  prophesies 
the  coming  of  Christ's  brotherhood  in  all  hearts,  all  homes  and  all 
governments." 

On  motion  of  Miss  Margaret  Winslow  of  New  York,  the  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.  convention  of  1887  adopted  a  white-ribbon  bow  as  the 
official  badge  of  the  organization.  Of  this  symbol  Katharine  Lent 
Stevenson  has  said :  "It  is  particularly  appropriate  for  our  organization 
— its  white  the  inclusiveness — no  color,  because  combining  all  colors." 
Mrs.  J.  K.  Barney  told  many  a  sin-sick  soul  that  it  meant  penitence, 
purity  and  consecration.  The  badge  is  recognized  and  respected  the 
world  over  as  an  emblem  of  peace,  purity,  total  abstinence  and  prohibi- 
tion. In  1905,  one  of  the  trips  made  by  Mrs.  L.  M.  N.  Stevens  and 
Anna  Gordon  covered  nine  weeks  of  travel  and  about  ten  thousand 
miles.  The  ninety  yards  of  white-ribbon  tied  into  little  bows  and 
placed  upon  new  members  by  Miss  Gordon,  indicate  the  number  who 
joined  during  this  trip. 

A  prominent  educator  and  author,  Louise  Manning  Hodgkins, 
founder  of  the  Department  of  English  Literature  and  for  years  a  pro- 
fessor in  Wellesley  College,  who  is  most  heartily  in  sympathy  with 
the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  has  the  good  fashion,  when  traveling,  of  wearing  the 
white-ribbon.  Recently,  she  said  to  the  writer:  "Merely  wearing  the 
white-ribbon  may  achieve  something  for  our  cause.  On  one  occasion, 
I  was  crossing  the  Atlantic  and  chanced  to  be  seated  with  the  officers 
at  the  captain's  table.  Among  the  passengers  was  a  liquor  dealer  going 
to  Africa  on  the  ignoble  errand  of  receiving  at  a  West  African  port  a 
load  of  New  England  rum.  Always  over-dressed  with  diamond  studs 
and  ring,  even  at  breakfast,  he  ostentatiously  made  a  wine-party  and 
invited  many  more  folk  than  came.  Next  morning  someone  asked  the 
officer  sitting  opposite  to  me,  'Did  you  go  to  the  party?'  'No,*  he 
answered  promptly,  'I  was  afraid  to  face  that  white-ribbon  this  morn- 
ing'— and  yet  the  white-ribboner  had  not  mentioned  the  subject." 

For  a  number  of  years,  the  National  Woman's  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union  at  its  annual  convention  endorsed  three  affiliated  interests 
over  which  it  had  no  financial  control  but  to  which  it  gave  cordial 
sympathetic  co-operation.  The  Woman's  Temperance  Publishing  Asso- 
ciation of  Illinois,  a  stock  company  organized  by  Mrs.  Matilda  B. 
Carse  of  Chicago,  in  1880,  owned  and  published  a  large  supply  of  ex- 

215 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


cellent  temperance  literature  and  The  Union  Signal,  the  official  organ 
of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  The  W.  C.  T.  U.  however,  had  editorial 
control  of  its  official  paper.  In  1903,  the  Publishing  Association  dis- 
solved and  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  purchased  its  official  paper, 
generous  friends  contributing  to  a  fund  raised  for  this  purpose  by 
Anna  A.  Gordon.  Since  1909,  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  has  created 
and  conducted  a  publishing  house  of  its  own.  The  Frances  E.  Willard 
National  Temperance  Hospital  of  Chicago,  which  today  continues  suc- 
cessfully to  demonstrate  the  principle  that  alcohol  is  not  needed  as  a 
medicine,  withdrew  early  in  1900  as  an  affiliated  interest. 

The  Temple  Building  Association  of  Chicago,  a  stock  company 
with  Mr.  Marshall  Field  president  of  the  board  of  trustees,  owned 
The  Temple,  the  third  of  the  affiliated  interests  of  the  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.  This  handsome  office  building  at  the  corner  of  Monroe 
and  La  Salle  Streets,  Chicago,  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  $1,200,000  on 
ground  leased  to  the  Association  by  Mr.  Field.  The  heavy  yearly 
ground  rental — $40,000 — wa§  each  year  the  first  financial  obligation  to 
be  met  from  Temple  rental  receipts.  Mrs.  Matilda  B.  Carse,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  board  of  trustees  and  president  of  the  Central  W.  C.  T.  U. 
of  Chicago,  was  the  chief  promoter  of  plans  for  its  ownership  by  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.  The  untiring  but  vain  endeavor  of  the  National  W.  C. 
T.  U.  towards  such  ownershop  covered  a  period  of  eleven  years.  Wil- 
lard Hall  was  the  soul  of  the  Temple  Building.  The  strength  of  its 
appeal  to  Frances  E.  Willard  and  the  active  workers  of  that  decade 
cannot  be  overestimated.  Daily,  it  was  the  scene  of  a  noontide  gospel 
temperance  meeting,  which  perpetuated  the  old  Farwell  Hall  daily 
prayer  service  of  the  early  years  of  the  Chicago  W.  C.  T.  U. 

Following  the  passing  onward  of  Frances  E.  Willard  in  February, 
1898,  her  successor  to  the  presidency  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U., 
Mrs.  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens,  with  her  co-officers  and  members  of  the 
Official  Board  made  every  possible  effort  to  carry  to  successful  comple- 
tion certain  plans  adopted  at  the  Buffalo,  New  York,  convention  in 
1897.  This  program  featured  an  endeavor  to  raise  $300,000  to  pay  off 
the  purchasers  of  Temple  Trust  Bonds,  issued  by  Mrs.  Carse  "as  an  in- 
dividual for  and  on  behalf  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U." 

It  became  necessary  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  National  Executive 
Committee  to  discuss  the  Temple  situation.  This  meeting  was  held  in 
Chicago,  July  15,  1898.     After  two  days  of  careful,  prayerful  discus- 


216 


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Historic  Rest  Cottage 


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National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Administration  Building 


A   Golden    History;    a    Golden    Prophecy 


sion,  a  resolution  to  be  recommended  to  the  national  convention  was 
adopted,  providing  that  all  effort  on  the  part  of  the  National  W.  C. 
T.  U.  to  own  the  Temple  Building  should  be  discontinued,  "While 
not  legally  bound,"  the  resolution  stated,  "we  regard  it  as  a  sacred 
trust  to  puchase  before  the  next  convention  ,the  $300,000  worth  of  Tem- 
ple Trust  Bonds  issued  by  the  promoters  of  The  Temple  enterprise."  At 
the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention  in  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  a  few 
months  later,  after  prolonged  and  dispassionate  discussion,  these  rec- 
ommendations were  adopted  by  a  yea  and  nay  vote — 285  for,  to  71 
against;  and  The  Temple  as  an  affiliated  interest  was  discontinued. 
Many  of  the  Temple  Trust  Bonds  held  by  needy  individuals  were  re- 
tired, but,  much  to  the  regret  of  the  committee  in  charge,  it  proved  im- 
possible to  raise  the  entire  amount  of  $300,000. 

A  visit  to  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  headquarters  in  Evanston,  Illi- 
nois, which  includes  the  Publishing  House,  is  well  worth  while.  Rarely 
does  any  national  woman's  organization  possess  so  commodious  and 
handsome  a  building  and  such  suitable,  attractively  furnished  offices. 
The  budget  of  $40,545,  appropriated  from  the  Jubilee  Fund,  made  it 
possible  for  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  for  the  first  time  to  erect  and 
own  an  adequate  building  and  an  up-to-date  equipment  for  its  national 
and  international  service. 

This  administrative  building  in  brick  erected  in  1921-1922  was 
joined  to  the  Publishing  House  constructed  in  1910.  An  expansion  of 
the  literature  department  was  thus  made  possible  and  greatly  increased 
its  efficiency  by  providing  sufficient  room  for  the  growing  business.  In 
1919,  a  new  policy  had  been  adopted  which  resulted  in  all  department 
literature  being  printed  at  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  headquarters.  Con- 
centration of  the  stock  of  departmental  as  well  as  general  liter- 
ature proved  an  advance  step.  The  amount  of  stock  now  on  hand  all 
paid  for,  inventories  about  $17,000.  The  change  in  the  situation 
created  by  the  passing  of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment  necessitated  a 
complete  revision  of  literature  and  the  abandonment  of  much  that  was 
in  stock.  That  loss  has  been  overcome,  and  the  literature  department 
has  been  able  to  pay  expenses.  A  catalog  of  sixty-eight  pages  gives  par- 
ticulars regarding  the  stock  of  leaflets,  books,  pledge  cards,  music,  pic- 
tures, medals,  posters,  slides  and  badges  carried  by  the  Publishing  House. 
Millions  of  pages  of  literature  are  annually  sent  out  from  this  plant, 
not  only  to  every  section  of  our  own  country,  but  to  foreign  lands  as 

217 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


well.  Miss  Jeannette  E.  Nichols  is  the  present  business  manager  of 
the  literature  department,  with  a  staff  of  assistants.  Mrs.  Margaret 
B.  Piatt  is  the  gifted  editor.  The  national  general  officers  constitute  the 
publishing  board,  of  which  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  treasurer,  Mrs. 
Margaret  C.  Munns,  is  the  chairman. 

The  development  of  the  literature  department  is  noteworthy.  It  was 
under  the  management  for  some  years  of  affiliated  interests  not  now  ex- 
isting, and  later  the  literature  stock  was  purchased  by  Miss  Ruby  I. 
Gilbert  who  was  assisted  by  Miss  Addie  A.  Austin.  In  1908,  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  consider  the  feasibility  of  establishing  a  litera- 
ture plant  in  connection  with  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  headquarters. 
This  was  under  the  management  of  the  national  corresponding  secretary, 
Mrs.  Parks. 

In  1910,  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  purchased  the  entire  stock.  Un- 
der the  wise  leadership  of  Mrs.  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens,  a  building  fund 
was  raised  in  1909-1910.  Without  a  dollar's  indebtedness,  and  with 
every  detail  planned  by  Mrs.  Stevens  and  her  co-officers  at  Evanston 
this  building  was  dedicated  December  10,  1910  "to  the  cause  of  temper- 
ance, the  cause  of  total  abstinence  and  prohibition,  and  the  cause  of 
humanity."  Skilled  workers  were  soon  at  their  several  posts  of  duty  in 
office  and  shipping  room,  and  the  literature  Publishing  House  of  the 
National  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  launched.  Every  year  has  shown  a  sub- 
stantial growth  of  the  business. 

The  memorial  convention  held  in  Saint  Paul,  Minnesota,  1898,  the 
first  to  meet  without  Miss  Willard's  visible  presence,  was  the  twenty- 
fifth,  annual  meeting  since  the  days  of  the  Crusade.  An  hour  was  given 
to  "Crusade  Memories,"  when  fifty-two  original  Crusaders  were  on  the 
platform  and  conducted  a  service  of  great  spiritual  force  and  fervor. 
Miss  Anna  Gordon  was  asked  to  close  the  hour.  Expressing  her  regret 
not  to  be  able  to  share  the  honor  of  having  been  an  original  Crusader, 
she  suggested  the  creation  of  a  Frances  E.  Willard  Memorial  Organiz- 
ing Fund  for  the  extension  and  perpetuation  of  the  work  to  which  Miss 
Willard  gave  her  life.  Miss  Gordon  considered  it  a  personal  privilege 
to  make  Mrs.  Judge  Thompson,  leader  of  the  Hillsboro,  Ohio,  Crusade, 
a  life  member  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  and  expressed  the  wish 
that  life  members  received  at  this  convention  and  during  the  conven- 
tion year  might  be  contributors  to  a  Frances  E.  Willard  Memorial 
Organizing  Fund.     This  proved  to  be  the  spark  that  re-ignited   the 


218 


A    Golden    History;    a    Golden    Prophecy 

enthusiasm  of  the  convention,  and  fifty-four  life  and  memorial  members 
at  twenty-five  dollars  each  were  quickly  given. 

At  the  post-executive  Committee  Meeting,  on  motion  of  Mrs. 
Katharine  Lent  Stevenson,  the  seventeenth  of  February  was  designated 
as  Frances  E.  Willard  Memorial  Day  and  every  union  was  requested 
to  hold  a  special  service  and  to  send  two  dollars  or  more  to  the  Mem- 
orial Organizing  Fund.  This  fund  in  memory  of  the  supreme  W.  C. 
T.  U.  organizer  builds  in  her  name  a  living  memorial.  The  story  of 
the  offerings  sent  in  yearly  by  local  unions  is  one  of  fascinating  interest. 
The  Frances  Willard  Memorial  Fund  has  made  possible  the  missionary 
work  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  Isolated  places  have  been  reached,  new 
unions  organized  and  weak  unions  strengthened.  National  representa- 
tives in  the  outlying  "mission  stations" — ^Alaska,  Porto  Rico,  and  the 
Philippines — have  been  assisted.  "Open  house"  has  been  maintained 
during  the  season  at  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  headquarters  in  Chautauqua, 
New  York.  The  Memorial  Fund  has  been  applied  to  aid  work  among 
negroes,  provide  free  literature  for  libraries,  students,  organizations 
and  individuals;  posters,  maps  and  charts  for  exhibit  purposes.  This 
fund  helped  to  w^in  prohibition  and  ratification  campaigns.  During  the 
five-year  Jubilee  membership  campaign,  under  the  able  management  of 
the  national  corresponding  secretary,  this  fund  helped  win  thousands  of 
new  members  to  support  the  Constitution  and  aid  law  observance  and 
law  enforcement;  19,618,000  pages  of  Jubilee  membership  appeal  lit- 
erature have  been  distributed  by  states,  aided  on  the  fifty-fifty  basis  in  the 
purchase  of  this  literature  from  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Field  serv- 
ice has  been  greatly  extended  by  means  of  this  Jubilee  Fund,  and  it  has 
played  a  most  important  part  in  the  program  of  activities  for  the  Jubilee 
Year.  There  has  been  received  for  the  Frances  E.  Willard  Memorial 
Organizing  Fund  since  1898  (receipts  for  1924  being  estimated)  $206,- 
825. 

January  sixteenth  will  ever  be  to  the  Woman's  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union  a  red  letter  day.  It  was  on  that  date  in  1920  that  the 
legalized  liquor  traffic  in  the  United  States  passed  out  of  existence. 
"It  is  fitting,"  says  the  national  treasurer,  "that  this  day  should  be  called 
the  Lillian  Stevens  Legislative  Fund  Day.  The  splendid  service  she 
gave  in  unstinted  measure  always  will  be  remembered  and  her  name  per- 
petuated through  coming  generations.  Those  who  were  privileged  to 
listen  to  the  marvelous  address  of  Mrs.  Stevens  in  1911,  in  which  she 

219 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


pledged  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  to  highest  service  for  Constitutional 
Prohibition  and  declared  that  'the  God  who  hath  led  our  hosts  still 
leads  and  by  the  sign  of  the  Cross  we  shall  conquer,'  can  never  forget 
the  thrill  of  that  moment,  nor  the  absolute  accord  with  which  the  vast 
audience  rose  and  consecrated  its  powers  to  the  accomplishment  of  the 
high  purpose  for  which  the  dauntless  leader  plead.  Though  Mrs.  Ste-. 
ens  was  not  permitted  to  see  with  human  vision  the  victory  day,  none 
can  doubt  that  her  spirit  is  with  us  rejoicing  at  the  onward  march  of 
the  cause  she  loved  so  well,  and  her  name  will  be  ever  indissolubly 
linked  with  National  Constitutional  Prohibition. 

"This  splendid  work  is  supported  solely  by  the  contributions  to  the 
Lillian  Stevens  Legislative  Fund.  What  nobler  tribute  could  be  paid 
to  that  great-souled  stateswoman,  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens,  than  to  perpet- 
uate her  memory  in  a  fund  recruited  yearly  to  fortify  and  protect  prohi- 
bition legislation?  Who  that  ever  heard  that  deep,  impassioned  voice 
plead  for  National  Constitutional  Prohibition  can  doubt  that  she  would 
feel  honored  to  have  every  local  union  in  the  country,  as  well  as  indi- 
vidual friends,  contribute  to  this  fund.  Keep  the  legislative  machinery 
moving 

"The  Legislative  Fund  provides  for  the  maintenance  of  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.  legislative  headquarters  in  Washington,  D.  C,  in  order 
that  the  organization  may  be  a  force  in  securing  Federal  legislation  and 
promote  many  lines  of  public  welfare  of  special  interest  to  women  and 
children  and  the  homes  of  our  countr}^  This  fund  is  the  only  one  that 
provides  for  legislative  work.  Each  local  W.  C.  T.  U.  has  the  privil- 
ege of  contributing  at  least  one  dollar  a  year  to  maintain  it,  in  memory 
of  the  fearless  leader  who  so  mightily  inspired  the  temperance  hosts  of 
our  country  to  move  forward  to  the  supreme  and  successful  battle  for 
National  Constitutional  Prohibition." 

The  Lillian  Stevens  Campaign  Fund  (later  changed  to  the  Lillian 
Stevens  Legislative  Fund)  established  in  1914,  has  brought  into  the 
treasury  (receipts  for  1924  being  estimated)  $61,040. 

In  the  national  president's  home  office  in  Rest  Cottage,  for  many 
years  a  "prohibition  map"  of  the  United  States  has  hung.  Visitors  from 
everywhere  have  watched  that  historic  map  grow  from  "black"  to 
"white."  The  original  map  had  only  three  "white"  states — Maine, 
Kansas,  North  Dakota.  When  the  Eighteenth  Amendment  was  secured, 
thirty-two  states  had  their  own  prohibition  laws,  Kentucky  soon  falling 


220 


EDITORS  OF  THE  UNION  SIGNAL 
Harriet  B.  Kells  Mary   Bannister   Willard  Julia  A.   Ames 

Julia    F.    Deane  Margaret  Suddeth 

Clara  C.  Chapin 


Mary  Allen   West 
Cornelia  T.  Hatcher 


A   Golden    History;    a    Golden    Prophecy 

into  line,  and  the  remaining  "black"  states,  most  of  which  had  large 
"white"  T^as,  by  Federal  enactment  became  "white." 

Already  references  have  been  made  to  benefits  conferred  by  the  pro- 
hibitory laws  of  Maine  and  Kansas.  North  Dakota  has  the  unique  dis- 
tinction of  being  the  first  state  to  enter  the  Union  with  prohibition  of 
the  liquor  traffic  in  its  constitution,  and  to  hold  it,  until  prohibition  be- 
came the  law  of  the  land.  In  the  long,  bitter  fight  to  keep  and  enforce 
the  prohibition  law,  the  state  W.  C.  T.  U.  has  led.  The  state  president, 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Preston  Anderson,  for  more  than  thirty  years  has  been 
present  at  every  session  of  the  legislature  and  the  pressure  she  has  been 
able  to  bring  to  bear  upon  the  members,  through  the  local  unions  in 
their  respective  districts,  again  and  again,  has  saved  the  day. 

When  prohibition  was  established  and  well  enforced.  Governor 
John  Burke  (afterwards  Treasurer  of  the  United  States)  received  from 
the  North  Dakota  W.  C.  T.  U.  a  life  size  portrait  in  oil  of  Elizabeth 
Preston  Anderson  and  in  recognition  of  her  services  for  prohibition  and 
other  moral  laws,  it  was  hung  in  the  rotunda  of  the  State  Capitol.  Mrs. 
Anderson  was  the  author  of  the  Presidential  and  Municipal  Suffrage 
Law  which  passed  in  1917. 

The  voice  of  The  Union  Signal,  the  popular  progressive  weekly 
organ  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  is  heard  around  the  world.  It  is  a 
pithy,  persuasive,  powerful  voice.  The  Union  Signal  gives  incontro- 
vertible facts  regarding  the  success  of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment,  the 
Volstead  Code  and  all  progressive  lines  of  work.  The  present  editorial 
staff  consists  of  Miss  Julia  Freeman  Deane,  managing  editor;  Miss 
Windsor  Grow,  who  is  also  editor  of  The  Young  Crusader,  and  an  as- 
sistant editor.  Miss  Dorothy  McAllister.  Miss  Deane  has  rare  facility 
as  an  editorial  writer  and  in  the  line  of  research  and  securing  valuable 
contributions.  In  1920-21,  during  Miss  Deane's  extended  absence  in 
Europe  and  South  America,  Miss  Vida  Thompson  faithfully  served  as 
associate  editor  of  the  official  organ.  The  national  president  is  editor-in- 
chief.  Mrs.  Delia  F.  Withers,  at  the  head  of  the  Circulation  depart- 
ment, is  enthusiastic  in  her  endeavor  to  increase  the  circulation  of  The 
Union  Signal  so  that  the  valuable  news  it  contains  may  reach  around  the 
world. 

The  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  official  organ  has  an  interesting  fifty- 
year  old  story.  In  1874,  a  committee  to  consider  the  establishment  of  a 
National  W.  C.  T.  U.  paper  was  appointed.     In  June,   1875,  The 

221 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


Woman's  Temperance  Union  appeared  as  a  monthly  paper,  and  at  the 
second  national  convention,  was  endorsed  as  the  official  organ...  ,'he  man- 
aging editor  from  1875  to  1876  was  Mrs.  Jennie  Fowler-Willing.  Miss 
Margaret  Winslow  served  in  this  capacity  from  1876  to  1883.  In  1877, 
tJie  promising  literary  child  received  the  name  of  Our  Union,  and  in 
1878  was  pronounced  free  from  debt.  In  January,  1883,  Tke  Union 
Signal,  with  Mrs.  Mary  Bannister  Willard  as  its  brainy  managing 
editor,  made  its  first  appearance.  It  was  a  consolidation  of  Our  Union 
and  The  Signal,  which,  in  the  west,  for  three  years  had  represented  the 
growing  W.  C.  T.  U.  work.  In  a  "lead  pencil  letter,"  written  while 
"en  route  in  Virginia,"  in  January,  1883,  Frances  Willard  sent  to  The 
Union  Signal  editor  this  letter  of  congratulation:  "My  heart  is  thank- 
ful as  I  write  the  new  name  of  our  organ  for  the  first  time.  It  is  as 
if  two  armies  of  allies  had  affected  a  junction  and  in  united  phalanx 
were  marching  on  the  foe.  It  means  the  brains  of  the  west  plus  the 
brains  of  the  east.  It  means  progressive  and  conservative ;  old  plus  new ; 
mother  plus  daughter.  It  is  a  strong  move  and  conducts  to  a  strategic 
position.  Launch  the  good  Union  Signal  ship,  and  'Give  her  to  the  God 
of  storms,  the  tempest  and  the  gale.'  Nor  ship  nor  character  is  worth 
much  if  it  cannot  make  its  forceful  way  through  storm  to  sunshine — ■ 
across  the  foaming  waves  into  the  restful  haven."  Mrs.  Mary  Ban- 
nister Willard  served  as  editor  from  1883-1886.  Between  1886  and 
1889  the  official  organ  was  edited  by  Mary  Allen  West,  Julia  A.  Ames, 
Elizabeth  Wheeler  Andrew,  Frances  E.  Willard,  Lady  Henry  Somer- 
set, Margaret  Sudduth,  Mrs.  Harriet  B.  Kells,  Jane  A.  Stewart,  Mrs. 
Katharine  Lent  Stevenson,  Mrs.  Susanna  M.  D.  Fry,  Mrs.  Clara  C. 
Chapin,  Ada  M.  Melville,  and  Mrs.  Isabella  Webb  Parks.  In  1899,  Mrs. 
Clara  C.  Chapin  was  appointed  managing  editor,  a  change  from  the 
earlier  plan  of  a  staff  of  four,  five  or  six  editors.  Miss  Margaret  Sud- 
duth served  as  managing  editor  from  1902-1903.  Mrs.  Cornelia  T. 
Jewett,  from  1903-1911.  During  this  period  Miss  Julia  H.  Thayer 
and  Miss  Alice  M.  Krimbill  rendered  valuable  editorial  service.  In 
1910,  Julia  F.  Deane  was  elected  managing  editor. 

The  Union  Signal  in  fact  is  a  world  missionary.  A  distinguished 
statesman,  living  in  one  of  the  larger  cities  of  Europe,  thus  expresses 
his  appreciation  of  the  paper:  "Recently  I  gave  a  public  lecture  on  the 
social  and  economic  effects  of  prohibition  in  the  United  States  of  Amej- 
ica,  in  which  I  availed  myself  of  the  rich  and  valuable  information  which 


222 


A   Golden    History;    a    Golden    Prophecy 


I  have  derived  from  the  regular  reading  of  The  Union  Signal.  I  can- 
not tell  you,  by  the  way,  how  deeply  I  am  indebted  to  you  for  receiv- 
ing this  paper  of  yours  which  has  enabled  me  to  form  a  right  opinion 
of  the  significance  of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment.  For  many  of  my 
hearers,  I  daresay  for  most  of  them,  the  facts  which  I  laid  before  them 
were  quite  a  revelation ;  for  our  newspapers,  which  are  generally  speak- 
ing under  the  influence  of  liquordom,  are  unfortunately  making  great  and 
successful  efforts  to  withhold  the  truth  about  prohibition  from  their 
readers,  or  to  give  them  only  a  distorted  view  of  it.  Some  of  the  smaller 
papers  of  our  city  were  represented  at  my  lecture  by  correspondents,  but 
the  most  influential  and  most  widely  spread  of  our  papers  was  con- 
spicuous by  absence  of  any  representative,  although  to  it  had  been  for- 
mally extended  an  invitation  to  be  present.  The  liquor  people  of  all 
countries  are  fully  aware  of  the  immense  importance  of  the  legislative 
reform  you  have  achieved  in  America  and  are  doing  therefore  their  ut- 
most to  conceal  the  truth  from  the  public." 

The  Union  Signal  publishes  all  the  telling  things  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 
is  doing  in  many  lines,  including  child  welfare,  scientific  temperance  in- 
struction, Americanization,  legislation,  citizenship,  social  morality,  pub- 
licity, women  in  industry  and  young  people's  and  Loyal  Temperance 
Legion  work. 

The  W.  C.  T.  U.  for  two  decades  has  co-operated  with  the  Chautau- 
quas  in  every  section  of  the  country.  In  Kellogg  Hall,  Chautauqua, 
New  York,  built  by  James  Kellogg  of  Rochester,  New  York,  in  honor 
of  his  mother,  Mrs.  Annie  Kellogg,  one  of  the  first  graduates  of  the 
Chautauqua  Literary  and  Scientific  School  and  a  pioneer  white-ribboner, 
a  permanent  place  was  provided  by  the  donor  for  the  use  of  the  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.  August  15,  1889,  these  rooms  were  dedicated  in  an  im- 
pressive celebration  of  the  fifteenth  anniversary  of  the  date  on  which 
the  first  steps  were  taken  in  the  organization  of  the  National  W.  C. 
T.  U.  Bishop  Vincent  presided. 

In  the  following  letter  of  presentation,  Mr.  Kellogg  appreciative!y 
recognizes  the  influence  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  at  the  "Mother 
Chautauqua ;" 

"Cherishing,  as  I  do,  the  most  profound  respect  for  the  splendid 
leadership  and  the  sublimely  splendid  following  which  have  made  your 
society  the  most  potent  woman's  alliance  in  the  world,  I  consider  it 
both  an  honor  and  a  privilege  to  provide  a  place  in  this  building,  sacred 

223 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


to  the  memory  of  my  sainted  mother,  for  the  use  of  your  representa- 
tives. Organized,  as  you  were,  on  these  grounds,  it  is  befitting  that 
here  a  choice  and  central  spot  should  be  the  place  from  which  the  sweet 
influences  of  your  noble  work  should  go  out  in  blessing  to  multitudes 
throughout  the  earth.  I  know  that  my  beloved  mother,  always  imbued 
with  the  grace  of  hospitality,  would  as  quickly  open  door  and  hand  and 
heart  to  your  beloved  organization  as  to  her  best  friend.  While  the  sun 
of  your  glory  was  flooding  the  sky  of  the  morning,  her  sun  was  sinking 
into  twilight  shadows,  but  she  knew  of  j^our  successes,  she  sympathized 
with  your  lofty  aims,  and  esteemed  it  an  honor,  a  jewel  in  the  crown  of 
her  old  age,  to  be  recognized  as  your  friend. 

"It  is  a  credit  to  Chautauqua,  famed  for  far-reaching  projects,  that 
your  grand  association  is  recognized  in  its  halls  and  on  its  platform. 
I  would  say  to  those  who  gather  amid  the  leafy  groves  of  this  'fair 
point,'  stand  by  the  noble  women  who,  in  God's  name,  care  so  truly  and 
tenderly  for  'Home  and  Native  Land.'  May  your  widening  inWuence 
increase  until  not  a  spot  shall  fail  to  be  illumined  by  the  warm  raj^s 
of  your  careful  thought  and  holy  sympathy.  May  your  successes  be  ex- 
tended until  the  white-ribbon  shall  flutter  in  every  breeze,  the  world- 
adopted  ensign  of  an  all  conquering  host.  May  your  allegiance  to  the 
truth  be  an  incentive  to  all  Christian  men  to  bind  themselves  in  an  in- 
vincible phalanx  for  righteousness.  Under  5^our  v/ise  teachings  may  a 
generation  arise,  anchored  in  the  principles  of  sobriety,  to  stand  as 
adamant  against  the  hatefulness  of  strong  drink,  and  for  all  that  can 
make  for  goodness,  purity  and  truth."  On  behalf  of  the  organization, 
Mrs.  Caroline  B.  Buell,  national  corresponding  secretary,  graciously 
accepted  Mr.  Kellogg's  gift. 

The  Frances  E.  Willard  memorial  window,  in  Kellogg  Hall,  gen- 
erously presented  to  the  National  W,  C.  T,  U.  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John 
C.  Martin,  was  dedicated  July  22,  1904,  In  1908,  a  fountain  was 
placed  in  the  grassplot  in  front  of  the  memorial  window.  This  was  a 
tribute  from  many  friends.  For  ten  years,  the  courtesy  of  the  use  of  the 
Hall  of  Philosophy  for  the  four  o'clock  hour  on  Saturday  afternoons 
throughout  the  session  has  been  extended.  Attractive  programs  have 
been  presented  by  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  hostesses,  Mrs.  C.  F.  Lindsay, 
Mrs.  M.  B.  Wilson,  Mrs.  Maude  B.  Perkins  and  Mrs.  Jennie  M. 
Kemp.  Group  and  evening  meetings  have  been  held  at  Kellogg  Hall. 
Beginning  with  1898,  the  hostesses  at  Kellogg  Hall  have  been:     Mrs. 


224 


A    Golden    History;    a    Golden    Prophecy 

Addie  Northam  Fields,  Mrs.  Helen  L.  Bullock,  Mrs.  S.  M.  D.  Fry, 
Mrs.  Mary  B.  Wilson,  Mrs.  Caroline  B.  Buell,  Mrs.  Emma  S.  Shelton, 
Mrs.  C.  F.  Lindsay,  Mrs.  Maude  B.  Perkins,  Miss  Helen  G.  H.  Es- 
telle,  and  Mrs.  Jennie  M.  Kemp.  Mrs.  Frances  W.  Graham,  national 
musical  director,  acted  as  hostess  at  Kellogg  Hall,  Chautauqua  W.  C. 
T,  U.  headquarters  during  the  Jubilee  week  of  August  11-16. 

Scores  of  white-ribboners,  presidents  and  members  of  adjacent  county 
and  local  unions,  and  many  W.  C.  T.  U.  women,  residents  on  Chau- 
tauqua grounds,  have  freely  aided,  in  countless  ways,  the  official  lead- 
ers. Prominent  among  these  gracious  helpers  were  Mrs.  Emily  Hunt- 
ington Miller,  Mrs.  Caroline  McDowell,  Mrs,  Frances  W.  Graham, 
Miss  Florence  Bullock,  Mrs.  Dorothy  Wilson  Rue,  Mrs.  Caroline 
Leech  and  her  daughter  Carolyn,  Miss  Mary  Mather,  Miss  Mary  Mc- 
Dowell, Miss  Jessica  Morgan  and  Miss  Elizabeth  P.  Gordon. 

As  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  work  at  Chautauqua  has  been  one  of 
the  beneficiaries  of  the  Frances  E.  Willard  Memorial  fund,  the  national 
corresponding  secretary,  Mrs.  Frances  P.  Parks,  has  had  the  supervision 
of  Chautauqua  arrangements.  She  has  rendered  untiring  and  successful 
service.  Exhibits,  at  considerable  expense,  have  been  sent  and  installed. 
For  many  years  W.  C.  T.  U.  Day  has  contributed  an  annual,  attractive 
feature  to  the  general  Chautauqua  program.  As  guests  of  the  Chautau- 
qua Woman's  Club  under  the  administration  of  Mrs.  Emily  Hunting- 
ton Miller,  1888-1895,  Mrs.  B.  T.  Vincent,  1896-1916,  and  later  of 
Mrs.  Percy  V.  Pennybacker,  W.  C.  T.  U.  speakers  always  have  been 
welcomed. 

The  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  initial  steps  in  the  organization  of 
the  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  celebrated  August  16,  1924,  heralded  as  W.  C. 
T.  U.  Day  at  Chautauqua.  Here  in  the  summer  of  1874,  Crusaders 
attending  the  first  Sunday  School  Assembly  decided  to  call  an  organizing 
convention  to  meet  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  the  following  November.  In 
honor  of  this  triumphant  event  a  large  audience  assembled  in  the  amphi- 
theater both  morning  and  afternoon.  Dr.  Arthur  E.  Bestor,  president 
of  the  Chautauqua  Institution,  which  also  in  1924  is  celebrating  its 
semi-centennial,  expressed  his  pleasure  in  the  co-operation  of  Chautau- 
qua and  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  in  this  commemorative  occasion.  The  his- 
toric background  as  it  contributed  to  the  future  progress  of  the  W.  C. 
T.  U.  was  the  theme  of  the  morning  exercises  when  the  story  of  the  call- 
ing of  the  first  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention  by  the  valiant  Crusaders  as- 

225 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


sembled  fifty  years  ago  at  Chautauqua  was  inspiringly  told.  The  Na- 
tional W,  C.  T.  U.  president,  Anna  A.  Gordon,  the  national  vice-presi- 
dent, Mrs.  Ella  A.  Boole  and  Dr.  Arthur  E.  Bestor,  president  of  the 
Chautauqua  Institution,  made  the  principal  addresses.  By  invitation  of  the 
National  W.  C.  T.  U.  the  afternoon  program  embodied  the  law  enforce- 
ment activities  of  the  Council  of  Women  for  Home  Missions,  the  Fed- 
eration of  Woman's  Boards  of  Foreign  Missions  of  North  America, 
and  the  Woman's  National  Committee  for  Law  Enforcement.  Mrs. 
D.  E.  Waid  represented  the  Council  of  Women  for  Home  Missions, 
Miss  Elizabeth  Bain,  the  Woman's  National  Committee  for  Law  En- 
forcement, and  the  chief  speaker  of  the  afternoon  was  Mrs.  Helen  Bar- 
rett Montgomery,  the  noted  Baptist  missionary  leader,  traveler  and 
author.  The  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  president  presided,  and  presented 
the  high  points  of  the  World's  and  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  program  in 
connection  with  the  passage  of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment  and  the  new 
campaign  for  law  observance  and  law  enforcement.  Representatives  of 
the  seventeen  states  on  the  roll  of  honor  as  havmg  sent  delegates  to  the 
Cleveland  organizing  convention  were  given  seats  on  the  platform. 
These  seventeen  states  were:  Maine,  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  Alabama,  Ohio,  Colorado,  Iowa,  California,  Illi- 
nois, Indiana,  Kansas,  Michigan,  New  Hampshire,  West  Virginia  and 
Wisconsin.  Profound  interest  centered  in  a  group  of  original  Crusaders 
who  were  presented  to  the  great  audience  and  received  tumultuous  ap- 
plause. Three  of  these,  Mrs.  Arminda  A.  Shaw  of  New  York,  Mrs. 
Martha  Beaujeau,  and  Mrs.  Sarah  H.  Mossman,  attended  the  tent 
meeting  at  Chautauqua  fifty  years  ago,  where  after  praj^er,  song  and 
discussion,  these  brave  souls  "buckled  on  their  armor  for  a  long  cam- 
paign." 

It  was  foreordained  that  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  the  organization 
of  "mother  love,"  should  early  declare  for  peace.  "The  great  peace 
movement,"  said  Frances  Willard,  in  1884,  "seeking  as  its  final  out- 
come a  Court  of  International  Arbitration,  as  a  substitute  for  war, 
promises  more  momentum  to  our  home  cause  than  any  other;  for,  as 
the  chief  cornerstone  of  the  peaceful  state  is  the  hearthstone — so,  the 
chief  pulverizer  of  that  hearthstone  is  war." 

When  the  Peace  department  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  was 
created  in  1889,  that  great-hearted  Friend,  Mrs.  Hannah  J.  Bailey  of 
Maine,  was  placed  at  its  head.    The  principles  of  peace  and  arbitration 


226 


A    Golden    History;    a    Golden    Prophecy 

continued  to  be  taught  far  and  wide,  and  through  the  generosity  of  the 
national  superintendent  and  many  state  superintendents,  children  in  the 
public  schools  received  prizes  for  the  best  essays  on  some  practical 
phase  of  the  subject  of  peace. 

At  a  Peace  and  Arbitration  Congress  held  in  1907  in  New  York 
City,  delegates,  including  white  ribboners  from  all  parts  of  the  United 
States,  from  France  and  Great  Britain,  were  present,  all  with  hearts 
moved  by  the  same  high  purpose.  President  Mary  E.  Woolley  of 
Mount  Holyoke  College,  asserted  that  "the  fundamental  principles  of 
the  peace  movement  enter  into  the  most  common  experience,  for  they 
govern  all  just  and  pure  living."  Jane  Addams'  suggestion  was  that  an 
attempt  should  be  made  to  solve  the  difficult  problem  by  investing 
the  peaceful  arts  and  peace  movement  itself  with  something  of  the 
glamour  and  attractiveness  that  attaches  to  war.  Later,  Mrs.  William 
Jennings  Bryan  gave  valuable  plans  in  the  same  line.  She  states  defi- 
nite steps  that  should  be  taken,  in  order  to  place  in  the  schools,  histories 
that  shall  emphasize  the  achievements  of  peace  rather  than  those  of  war. 

At  the  present  time  The  Westminster  Gazette  of  England  voices  the 
opinion  of  a  large  part  of  the  British  Government  when  it  says,  "The 
value  of  common  sense  given  and  taken  between  great  nations  is  dem- 
onstrated by  the  signature  of  the  Anglo-American  liquor  convention. 
It  presents  a  notable  instance  of  how  apparently  insurmountable  inter- 
national difficulties  may  be  overcome  by  the  exercise  of  patience  and 
good  will." 

The  peaceful  relations  which  ever  have  existed  between  the  United 
States  and  Canada  are  symbolized  by  a  magnificent  arch  dedicated  to 
everlasting  friendship  between  the  two  nations.  The  arch  is  sixty-six 
feet  high,  built  of  plain  solid  concrete  with  portals  twenty-five  feet 
wide — and  a  great  space  between  them.  It  spans  the  Grand  Pacific 
highway  in  British  Columbia  in  commemoration  of  the  one  hundred 
years  of  peace  between  the  United  States  and  Canada.  Across  the  top, 
on  the  United  States  side  is  engraved,  "Children  of  a  common  mother" 
and  on  the  Canadian  side,  "Brethren  dwelling  together  in  unity."  On 
the  summit  of  the  high  peak  of  the  Andes  mountains  stands  a  majestic 
statue — the  Christ  of  the  Andes.  The  benignant  figure  of  the  Christ, 
with  uplifted  cross,  was  placed  on  its  commanding  pedestal  to  forever 
signalize  the  peace  pact  between  the  two  republics  of  Argentina  and 
Chile.     The  inscription  on  the  base  of  the  statue  reads,  "Sooner  shall 

227 


Women    Torc  h- be  arer  s 


these  mountains  crumble  into  dust  than  Argentines  and  Chileans  break 
the  peace  that  they  have  sworn  at  the  feet  of  Christ,  the  Redeemer,  to 
maintain."  In  the  address  of  dedication,  Bishop  Jard  said,  "Not  alone 
to  Argentina  and  Chile  do  we  dedicate  this  monument,  but  to  the  world, 
that  from  this  it  may  learn  its  lesson  of  universal  peace." 

The  active  white-ribboner  of  today  is  as  interested  in  the  daily 
news  from  Europe  and  the  Orient  as  was  the  early  woman  Crusader 
in  her  immediate  home  area.  At  the  present  writing,  W.  C.  T.  U. 
women  are  deeply  concerned  while  watching  America's  connection 
through  the  Dawes'  reparation  plan  in  the  peaceful  settlement  of 
Europe's  financial  difficulties.  In  his  famous  report,  Brigadier  General 
Dawes  says  the  diplomats  on  the  committee  are  seeking  to  cultivate  a 
"universal  conscience."  This  appeal  to  statesmen  to  "rise  above  the 
small  things  over  which  the  small  so  often  stumble"  may  well  be  taken 
to  heart. 

Rev.  Ernest  F.Tittle,D.D.,  of  Evanston,  Illinois,  declared  recently: 
"It  isn't  enough  to  work  for  a  World  Court.  We  must  actively  engage 
to  make  war  an  outlaw.  It  was  thought  once  that  slavery  could  not  be 
abolished.  Is  it  not  possible  for  us  to  create  public  opinion  against  war, 
so  that  all  differences  of  opinion  may  be  solved  by  nations  going  to  a 
court,  even  as  individuals  solve  their  problems  in  that  way.  We  can 
have  a  family  of  nations.     It  is  a  possibility." 

"National  defense,"  asserted  President  Coolidge  on  July  4,  1924, 
"is  a  necessity  and  a  virtue,  but  peace  with  honor  is  the  normal,  natural 
condition  of  mankind,  and  must  be  made  the  chief  end  to  be  sought 
in  human  relationship."  In  regard  to  the  participation  of  the  United 
States  in  the  world  court.  President  Coolidge  has  well  said,  "I  am  one 
of  those  who  believe  we  would  be  safer  and  that  we  would  be  meeting 
our  duties  better  by  supporting  the  World  Court  and  making  every  pos- 
sible use  of  it.  I  feel  confident  that  such  action  would  make  a  greater 
America;  that  it  would  be  productive  of  a  higher  and  finer  national 
spirit,  and  of  a  more  complete  national  life."  In  a  message  to  th^  As- 
sociated Advertising  Clubs  of  the  World,  President  Coolidge  recently 
said:  "As  truth  is  essential  between  buyers  and  sellers,  so  in  a  larger 
sense,  it  is  essential  in  the  wider  relationship  between  nation  and 
nation." 

All  the  national  leading  religious  denominations  have  made  recently 
strong  pronunciamentos  in  favor  of  "uniting  their  energies  in  a  great 


228 


A   Golden    History;    a    Golden    Prophecy 

movement  for  a  war-free  world."  The  expression  quoted  is  from  the 
report  of  the  committee  on  war  of  the  recent  Methodist  Quadrennnial 
Conference.  It  is  typical  of  others  passed  in  church  assemblies  of  all 
denominations.  The  same  opinion  is  held  by  prominent  white- 
ribboners,  notably  Judge  Florence  Allen  of  Ohio,  and  the  distinguished 
Assistant  United  States  Attorney  General,  Mrs.  Mabel  Walker  Wille- 
brandt  of  Washington,  D.  C,  and  by  an  ever  increasing  number  of  in- 
fluential people  in  business  and  professional  life.  Melville  E.  Stone  of 
the  Associated  Press  awakened  a  patriotic  keynote  when  he  said,  "I  do 
hope  that  there  will  be  a  time  when  some  other  people  will  feel  as  I  do 
that  we  have  little  respect  for  a  man  who  boasts  that  he  is  one  hundred 
per  cent  American  and  not  a  one  hundred  per  cent  international  man. 
This  country  cannot  isolate  itself.  We  have  got  to  participate  in  world 
activities." 

In  1921,  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  the  means  of  arousing  pub- 
lic interest  in  the  great  Conference  on  the  Limitation  of  Armaments 
held  in  Washington,  D.  C.  A  mammoth  peace  petition  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States  was  presented  on  behalf  of  the  National  W.  C. 
T.  U.  November  21,  by  the  president,  Anna  Gordon.  This  petition 
expressed  the  gratitude  of  these  women  to  President  Harding  for  call- 
ing the  Conference  on  the  Limitation  of  Armaments  and  the  prayer 
that  its  fundamental  purpose  might  be  achieved.  The  petition,  impres- 
sive in  size,  the  whole  tied  with  white  ribbon,  the  insignia  of  the  W.  C. 
T.  U.,  was  more  than  one  mile  in  length.  It  was  circulated,  signed, 
forwarded,  to  Washington,  and  prepared  for  presentation  to  Secretary 
Hughes  within  one  month.  Miss  Gordon,  in  presenting  the  appeal  to 
Mr.  Hughes  in  his  capacity  as  chairman  of  the  American  delegation  to 
the  Conference,  said: 

"This  petition  of  199,531  names,  each  signed  individually,  and  in- 
cluding appeals  from  national  women's  organizations  representing  a 
combined  membership  of  2,256,684,  expresses  the  gratitude  of  these 
women  to  the  President  for  calling  the  Conference  on  Limitation  of 
Armaments.  It  embodies  the  hopes  and  prayers  of  the  women  of  the 
United  States,  of  all  organizations  and  of  all  faiths,  that  such  conclu- 
sions shall  be  reached  by  the  Conference  as  will  mean  success  for  its 
fundamental  purpose.  The  magnificent  program  given  to  the  Con- 
ference by  you  on  November  12,  1921,  has  met  with  the  loud  acclaim 
of  the  entire  world.     We  pray  that  this  keynote  may  be  approved  by 

229 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


the  Conference  in  harmony  with  the  prayers  of  those  whose  petitions 
we  bring  you  today,  and  of  hundreds  of  millions  of  other  women  the 
world  over  for  Peace  on  Earth  and  Good  Will  to  Men."  With  Miss 
Gordon  when  she  presented  the  petition  were  Mrs.  Lenna  Lowe  Yost, 
Washington,  D.  C,  Legislative  representative;  Mrs.  Emma  S.  Shelton, 
Miss  Claire  Lusby,  and  several  other  members  of  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia, W.  C.  T.  U.  As  a  part  of  the  petition  went  also  the  signatures, 
in  their  official  capacities,  of  national  presidents  of  women's  organiza- 
tions. As  a  result  of  this  Conference,  a  United  States  Treaty,  in- 
suring for  a  decade  a  beneficent  peace,  was  consummated  with  all  the 
nations  bordering  on  the  Pacific.  The  question,  "What  does  mankind 
most  need?"  is  answered  by  Rev.  Ira  Landrith,  well-known  to  the  pro- 
hibition and  peace  forces  of  the  United  States.  He  says,  "The  great- 
est need  is  'pure  religion,  undefiled.'  President  Harding  died  with 
the  words  on  his  lips.  Woodrow  Wilson  once  cam.e  back  from  the 
brink  of  his  own  grave  to  write  almost  these  same  words.  The  ideal- 
ism of  the  great  Peace  Maker  must  be  substituted  for  fiddling  partisan- 
ship and  unholy  greed.  There  are  fifteen  million  graves  on  battle  fields, 
nearly  every  one  of  them  the  grave  of  youth  that  was  denied  the  in- 
herent right  of  youth  to  live  for  his  country — ^while  we  fiddle  over 
whether  we  shall  stop  war  or  start  another." 

"War  has  had  the  first  call  on  tlie  flag  long  enough,"  believes  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.,  and  "war  does  not  need  to  be  made  more  alluring,  but 
less.    Old  Glory  should  be  used  more  to  glorify  the  victories  of  peace." 

"When  the  women  of  Christendom  resolve  that  war  shall  cease,  it 
will  cease,"  declared  Ruskin.  Today  millions  of  women  are  saying  that 
Vv^ar  must  cease,  and  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  president  voices  their 
thought  in  her  utterance,  "When  Christ's  Golden  Rule  triumphs  in  cus- 
tom and  in  law  we  shall  have  reached  the  goal  of  international  good- 
will." The  permanent  lighting  of  the  Statue  of  Liberty  in  New  York 
Harbor  is  significant  of  the  fact  that  peace  can  come  to  the  world  only 
with  the  illumination  of  education,  justice  and  friendliness.  Dante 
said,  "Give  light,  and  the  people  will  find  their  own  way."  The 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  steadily  sends  forth  the  light 
that  shall  help  bring  the  day  prophesied  by  Tennyson  "when  universal 
peace  shall  lie  like  a  shaft  of  light  across  the  land  and  like  a  line  of 
beams  across  the  sea." 


230 


r'^^i 


The  Loyal  Temper- 
ance Legion  is  a 
human  garden  in 
which  are  planted 
our  pure  principles, 

A.  A.  G. 


Mary  B.  Ervin 


A    Golden    History;    a    Golden    Prophecy 


The  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  from  its  earliest  history  has  received 
whole-hearted  support  from  the  Friends — that  church  denomination 
which  ever  is  foremost  in  advocating  the  Christian  principles  of  pro- 
hibition, purity,  and  peace.  John  G.  Whittier,  the  poet  and  apostle 
of  the  Friends,  always  warmly  supported  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  One  of 
the  general  officers  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  Mrs.  Sara  H.  Hoge, 
president  also  of  the  Virginia  W.  C.  T.  U.,  is  a  minister  in  the 
Friends  church.  Her  long-time  statesmanlike  service  for  Virginia  and 
the  nation  has  been  freely  given. 

Rev.  Charles  M.  Sheldon,  in  his  description  of  the  "ideal  city" 
pictures,  it  is  hoped,  the  new  era  upon  which  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U. 
is  entering. 

"This  is  a  city  that  shall  stand, 

A  Light  upon  a  nation's  hill; 

A  Voice  that  evil  cannot  still, 

A  source  of  blessing  to  the  land; 

Its  strength,  not  brick,  nor  stone,  nor  wood, 

But  Justice,  Love,  and  Brotherhood." 

In  the  year,  1915,  Harvard  University  conferred  on  Bela  Lyon 
Pratt,  one  of  Boston's  eminent  sculptors,  an  honorary  degree  because 
"he  taught  bronze  and  marble  to  whisper  his  secrets  of  beauty  and 
power."  White-ribboners  always  have  been  carving  on  the  immortal 
souls  of  boys  and  girls  the  truth  regarding  total  abstinence,  in  order  that 
they  may  be  living  statues  that  radiate  purity  and  power. 

The  importance  of  the  study  of  child  welfare  was  emphasized  in 
the  speech  of  a  profound  thinker  when  he  said :  "The  voices  that  spoKe 
to  me  as  a  child  are  speaking  through  me  to  the  world."  Herbert 
Hoover  says:  "If  we  could  grapple  with  the  whole  child  situation,  for 
one  generation,  our  public  health,  our  economic  efficiency,  the  moral 
character,  sanity,  and  stability  of  our  people  would  advance  three  gen- 
erations in  one — every  child  delinquent  in  body,  education,  or  character 
is  a  charge  upon  the  community." 

Looking  forward  to  the  work  of  the  next  fifty  years,  Anna  Gordon 
saj^s:  "We  should  invest  whole-heartedly  time,  prayer  and  holy  en- 
deavor to  rally  the  children  of  the  public  schools,  the  Sunday  schools  and 
our  Loyal  Temperance  Legion.  We  should  enlist  the  boys  and  girls 
as  workers  for  our  cause  today  and  as  its  Torch-Bearers  of  Tomorrow 

231 


Women    Torch-bearers 


in  the  new  America  that  is  to  lead  the  nations  of  the  world  into  the  king- 
dom of  a  safe  sobriety  and  a  righteous  peace." 

A  leading  educator  has  declared:  "The  business  of  the  modern 
woman  is  to  prepare  her  children  for  the  world."  The  modern  woman 
believes  that  it  is  her  business  also  to  make  the  street  over  against  her 
home,  the  town  over  against  her  home,  the  nation  over  against  her  home, 
and  the  world  over  against  her  home,  safe  for  her  children.  Today 
there  are  no  narrow  limits  to  the  boundaries  of  the  home.  Each  child 
has  a  world  inheritance. 

Mrs.  Ellen  Dayton  Blair,  of  Los  Angeles,  California,  who  has 
worked  so  successfully  in  the  Loyal  Temperance  Legion,  is  the  only 
original  Crusader  who  is  still  in  active  W.  C.  T.  U.  work.  Mrs.  Blair, 
although  an  octogenarian,  still  works  for  the  boys  and  girls — holding  a 
state  and  national  office  in  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  and  has  given  service  for 
a  life  time.  While  pushing  well  to  the  front  the  youth  and  those  in 
the  prime  of  life,  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  leaders  never  forget  that  "Age  is 
opportunity,  no  less  than  youth  itself,  though  in  another  dress;  and 
as  the  evening  twilight  fades  away,  the  sky  is  filled  with  stars  invisible 
by  day." 

Another  invaluable  asset  of  a  nation  is  its  youth — the  high  school 
boys  and  girls.  They  are  the  "Golden  Prophecy."  The  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  is  visualizing  the  improved  conditions 
which  await  the  youth  of  the  future  who,  unhampered  by  the  devastat- 
ing effects  of  alcoholic  liquors,  will  enter  upon  their  high  and  holy 
duties.  To  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  "the  Youth  Movement"  is,  in  its  essence, 
no  new  emergence.  As  early  as  1874,  this  society  began  its  work  with 
the  youth.  Organized,  the  Crusade  meant  the  consecration  of  30,000 
young  women  in  the  Young  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 
to  the  service  of  God  and  humanity.  By  their  side  stood  thousands 
of  their  brothers. 

Today,  in  the  United  States  enthusiastic  groups  of  pledged  j'oung 
women  and  young  men  are  making  many  a  meaningful  gesture  toward 
the  goal  of  a  social  standard  that  will  popularize  a  punch  bowl  filled 
only  with  delicious  fruit  juice. 

A  number  of  the  religious  denominations  today  rejoice  in  church 
papers,  which  in  substance  say:  "The  Youth  Movement  is  absolutely 
opposed  to  alcoholism  in  every  form.  The  millions  of  boys  and  girls 
enlisted   disapprove  the  drinking  habits  of  their  parents  and  want  to 


232 


Frances  J.  Barnes 
Grace  Leigh  Scott 


Maude  B.  Perkins 

Charlotte  B.  Eraser 


Young  Peoples  Branch  Field  Day  in  New  York 


A   Golden    History;    a    Golden    Prophecy 

scrap  alcoholism  along  with  militarism  and  materialism."  Hearty  ap- 
plause greeted  the  three  young  men  who  expressed  these  convictions  at 
the  recent  Methodist  General  Conference  that  represented  a  world-wide 
membership  of  fifteen  millions.  There  are  different  classifications  of  the 
young  men  and  young  women  who  are  dissatisfied  with  the  present  and 
are  declaring  for  a  change.  The  W.  C.  T.  U.  is  sponsoring  those  who 
are  giving  to  the  world  the  basic  principles  of  Christianity — a  Chris- 
tianity that  in  trade,  civic  and  social  contact  "worketh  no  ill  to  his 
neighbor." 

"The  oncoming  generation,"  says  Dr.  John  R.  Mott,  is  out  on  a 
quest  for  reality.  There  is  a  seething  ferment  in  heart  and  brain.  The 
reality  that  the  oncoming  generation  is  seeking  is  to  be  found  in  such 
a  Christian  organization  as  the  W.  C.  T.  U."  "Youth  Holds  the 
Key!"  is  today  the  watchword  that  indicates  the  spirit  of  the  young 
people  of  America  and  of  many  other  nations.  A  young  American 
woman  wearing  the  white-ribbon  calls  to  young  men  and  young  women 
everywhere  in  these  appealing  words:  "Let  us  keep  the  door  locked 
fast  against  the  liquor  traffic  and  cry  to  the  enemies  of  prohibition, 
'They  shall  not  pass.'  "  A  more  sacred,  more  challenging  trust  has 
never  been  offered  since  the  world  began.  The  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union,  fifty  years  ago,  unmindful  of  creeds,  dogmas,  or 
political  differences,  banded  themselves  together  in  Christian  love  and 
in  spite  of  ridicule  and  contempt,  went  out  to  fight  in  defense  of  all 
who  were  oppressed  by  the  curse  of  liquor.  They  cry  to  the  Christian 
young  women  of  America:  "To  you  from  falling  hands  we  throw 
the  torch:  Be  yours  to  hold  it  high!"  The  youth  of  America  have 
one  supreme  task — to  prove  to  the  world  that  a  nation  can  voluntarily 
destroy  the  liquor  traffic  within  its  borders.  What  account  shall  young 
women  of  America  render  to  the  youth  of  the  next  generation? 

Another  progressive  member  of  the  young  people's  organization,  her- 
self a  teacher,  sends  out  this  compelling  call  to  those  who  are  members 
of  her  profession:  "Our  temperance  task  is  not  yet  finished.  Enemies 
of  the  social  order  for  personal  gain,  seek  to  break  down  the  prohibitory 
law.  Patriotic  Americans  are  rallying  for  the  protection  of  the  home. 
To  this  end,  we  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  send  out  a  clarion  call  to  the 
teachers  of  America  for  their  renewed  assistance  in  this  fight.  How 
can  you,  as  teachers,  have  a  part  in  this  momentous  campaign?  First, 
by  emphasizing  through  the  study  of  biology  and  hygiene,  the  effects  of 

233 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


alcohol  upon  the  human  system;  second,  by  computing  in  mathematics 
classes,  the  enormous  cost  in  dollars  and  cents,  of  the  liquor  traffic;  and 
by  showing  through  the  study  of  graphs,  the  statistical  reports  of  health 
boards  in  regard  to  the  ratio  of  deaths  due  to  various  diseases  in  the 
three  years  before  prohibition  and  the  three  j^ears  succeeding;  second, 
by  preparing  lessons — plans  in  history  and  civics  in  which  the  immediate 
or  ultimate  aim  is  the  disclosing  of  political  losses  due  to  drink;  third, 
by  work  in  sociology  and  economics,  whereby  the  students  can  ascertain 
the  part  played  by  strong  drink  in  causing  and  promoting  poverty, 
crime,  and  disease;  fourth,  by  joining  the  Woman's  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union,  thereby  allying  yourselves  with  the  greatest  organized  force 
of  women  banded  together  for  the  protection  of  the  home,  the  church, 
and  the  school.    We  need  your  help;  you  need  ours." 

At  a  great  convention  an  intensely  earnest  young  man,  seeking 
knowledge  on  the  questions  of  the  day,  said  respectfully  to  those  older 
than  himself,  "It  seems  to  me  these  resolutions  are  so  general  that  they 
don't  mean  anything.  What  is  the  use  of  talking  if  we  are  afraid 
people  will  understand  what  we  say?  We  young  people,  for  instance, 
would  like  the  question  of  war  brought  out  into  the  open — and  no  side- 
stepping." 

One  of  the  white-ribbon  young  women  leaders  enthusiastically  de- 
clares, "With  the  'I  hope'  of  Tennyson,  the  'I  know'  of  Browning  and 
the  'I  can'  of  God,  we'll  yet  completely  overthrow  the  enemy."  "Trust 
the  youth,"  says  Dr.  W.  H.  Foulkes,  a  noted  contributor  to  The 
Christian  Endeavor  World.  "It  is  the  spirit  of  youth  that  is  always 
the  hope  of  the  world.  Let  us  be  thankful  for  the  resurgence  of  jouth." 
It  will  be  recalled  that  a  mighty  slogan  of  the  prohibition  campaign 
that  brought  the  Federal  victory — "A  saloonless  nation  by  1920" — 
originated  with  a  Christian  Endeavor  leader.  The  young  people  made 
it  resound  throughout  the  hills  and  valleys  of  the  nation. 

In  an  address  given  at  Washington,  D.  C,  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Intercollegiate  Prohibition  Association,  Admiral  William  S.  Sims 
brought  the  issue  very  close  to  his  hearers  in  the  following  words: 
"It  is  rather  a  singular  thing  for  a  naval  officer  to  speak  on  prohibition. 
In  my  youth,  the  teetotaler  was  a  milk-sop;  he  was  not  considered  a 
good  sport  nor  a  companionable  man.  The  drinking  of  the  young 
men  caused  the  forming  of  clubs  for  those  who  did  not  frequent  saloons. 

"I  believe  prohibition  is  here  to  stay.     Do  you  young  men  pres- 


234 


A    Golden    History;    a    Golden    Prophecy 

ent  here,  tonight,  want  to  join  the  class  of  cynical  violators  of  the  law? 
If  you  do,  the  wets  will  supply  you  with  plenty  of  arguments.  If  you 
pay  a  man  to  get  you  a  bottle  of  whiskey,  or  a  drink,  you  are  paying 
for  the  services  of  the  bootlegger  who  smuggles  it  in — you  are,  in  real- 
ity, a  bootlegger.  The  influence  of  our  young  men  on  the  future  of  the 
United  States  will  be  great.  In  a  few  years,  you  will  be  the  controlling 
force  in  the  nation.  The  future — our  and  perhaps  the  world's  future — 
will  be  determined  by  your  mental  equipment,  your  moral  principles, 
your  clean  flesh,  your  physical  stamina,  and  your  ideals  of  private  and 
national  life.  It  is  up  to  you  to  do  some  serious  things — to  form  the 
habit  of  thinking  straight.  It  is  my  belief  that  if  college  students 
should  decide  to  obey  the  law  in  confidence,  and  if  their  example  should 
be  followed  by  the  great  mass  of  students  in  all  the  colleges  and  schools, 
the  moral  influence  would  eventually  be  such  as  to  sweep  out  of  of- 
fice every  corrupt  official,  and  to  create  that  respect  for  law  without 
which  no  democracy  can  succeed.  No  nation  can  resist  the  determined 
moral  conviction  of  its  young  men.  The  future  is  in  the  hands  of 
you  young  men  and  young  women.  More  than  to  any  other  class 
of  citizens,  it  is  up  to  you." 

"The  fellowship  of  youth  is  for  peace,"  declares  one  of  the  Amer- 
ican young  men.  "It  is  up  to  the  youth  of  this  generation  to  solvG 
the  war  problem — before  it  is  too  late.  The  Youth  Movements  among 
the  European  nations  are  sounding  the  one  note  of  hope  for  a  peaceful 
solution  of  Europe's  tangle  of  distrust." 

A  piece  of  statuary  by  Rodin,  the  great  French  sculptor,  in  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  in  New  York  City,  is  inspiring  to  all 
those  who  are  working  for  the  welfare  of  the  youth  of  the  world. 
The  rough  outline  of  a  strong  hand  is  carved  out  of  a  small  block 
of  marble.  The  figures  of  a  man  and  a  woman  are  being  shaped  by 
the  fingers  of  the  hand.  Rodin,  it  is  stated,  calls  this  piece  of  sculpture, 
"The  hand  of  God."  White-ribboners  see  in  it  a  great  hope  for  the 
new  Youth  Movement  which  is  spreading  in  all  lands.  Does  the 
statue  not  prophesy  that  "the  chaos  of  a  mighty  world  is  rounding 
into   form?" 

In  many  nations  even  restlessness  and  revolt  among  students  and 
other  youth,  indicate  progress.  A  significant  incident  is  related  in  the 
Iiiternational  Record^  of  a  juvenile  group  of  the  national  socialist  party 
in  Vienna,  Austria,  seeking  a  room  for  its  meeting.     One  was  found 

235 


Women    To  rc  h  -  b  barer  s 


in  a  public  house  and  the  landlord,  himself  a  socialist,  agreed  to  let 
it  on  condition  that  liquor  should  be  absolutely  prohibited  on  the 
evening  of  the  meetings.  The  result  was  that  all  similar  juvenile 
groups  have  adopted  prohibition  of  liquors  at  their  gatherings. 

Sui  Ling  Wang,  of  China,  (brother  of  Mrs.  Frances  Willard  Wang 
Liu)  for  three  years  has  been  a  student  in  Syracuse  University,  New 
York.  In  a  leading  paper  of  that  city,  he  gives  an  intimate  picture 
of  conditions  in  his  home  land.  He  says,  "When  the  Youth  Movement 
came  to  play  its  part  it  understood  the  tremendous  task  of  revolution- 
izing our  people's  thought.  It  w^as  the  custom  for  venerable  peda- 
gogues to  gather  at  tea  houses  to  compose  rhymes  and  to  discuss 
rather  lightly  the  Buddhist  doctrines.  Young  students  generally  fol- 
lovi^ed  the  currents  of  thought,  yet  there  were  some  young  men  of 
will-power  who  saw  the  light  and  glimpsed  the  meaning  of  human  life. 
In  her  future  development,  as  in  her  past  awakening,  China  will  con- 
tinue to  look  to  her  youth  for  guidance."  Sui  Wang  will  some  day 
be  a  force  in  China,  assisting  his  sister,  Frances  Willard  Wang  Liu 
of  Shanghai,  and  her  husband,  Herman  C.  E.  Liu,  (one  of  the  leaders 
in  the  Chinese  Y.  M.  C.  A.)  in  their  educational  and  temperance  cam- 
paigns among  the  students  and  people  of  the  Orient. 

In  a  recent  eloquent  baccalaureate  address,  Bishop  Thomas  Nichol- 
son called  attention  to  the  many  problems  the  young  graduates  would 
find  as  they  journeyed  along  in  the  wilderness  of  doubt  and  faced  many 
bewildering  situations.  He  said  their  commission  was  "to  bring  the 
moral  and  spiritual  life  of  today  up  to  the  level  of  the  commercial, 
and  to  invest  their  lives  in  great  causes." 

"Be  true  to  the  dreams  of  your  youth.  Hold  fast  to  the  high  ideals 
that  flash  upon  your  vision  in  hours  of  exaltation,"  many  years  ago 
said  that  patriot  and  seer,  Frances  Willard.  Today,  Anna  Gordon, 
the  president  of  the  World's  and  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  sends  this 
cheering  message  to  the  young  people:  "If  a  singing  army  is  a  vic- 
torious one,  the  young  people  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  are  bound  to  win.  Their  prize  song  that  rings  out  triumphantly 
in  many  a  convention,  is  a  challenge  to  all  American  youth: 
"  'Though  poppies  are  blooming  in   Flanders, 

Hiding  the  Crosses  bare. 
The  Spirit  of  Youth  still  is  living 
Ready  to  do  and  to  dare. 


236 


Statue  of  Frances  E.  Willard  in  Statuary  Hall, 
Washington,  D.  C. 


A    Golden    History;    a    Golden    Prophecy 

Out  o'er  the  world  Youth  is  marching 

With  emblem  a  Ribbon  White, 
Till  it  enfolds  all  the  nations 

In  purity,  peace  and  light.'  " 

Many  and  varied  are  the  memorials  to  Frances  E.  Willard.  Stately 
school  buildings  in  cosmopolitan  cities,  and  modest  structures  in  small 
towns  perpetuate  her  distinguished  name.  The  Frances  E.  Willard 
Settlement  in  Boston  has  made  articulate  and  most  successful  one  ot 
her  cherished  ideals.  Handsome  windows  in  church  edifices  symbolize 
her  character  and  her  humanitarian  work.  Children,  horses  and  dogs 
drink  at  fountains  erected  to  her  honor.  Hundreds  of  local  unions 
bear  her  name,  and  Frances  Willard's  namesakes  are  legion. 

On  February  17,  1905,  for  the  first  time  in  history  the  legislative 
wheels  of  the  Federal  government  were  stilled  for  a  time  to  pay  tribute 
to  a  woman's  memory.  On  this  notable  day.  Congress  accepted  from 
the  state  of  Illinois,  in  accordance  with  the  practically  unanimous  vote 
of  its  legislature,  the  statue  of  Frances  E.  Willard,  placing  it  in  Stat- 
uary Hall  under  the  dome  of  the  National  Capitol.  This  action  for- 
ever commemorates  the  life  work  of  one  who  is  acknowledged  to  be 
the  most  beloved  character  of  her  day,  and  the  foremost  woman  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  Manhood  was  ennobled,  womanhood  uplifted, 
childhood  blessed  through  the  lessons  of  that  da}''.  Strong,  manly, 
eloquent  addresses  were  given  in  both  Senate  and  House  by  the  states- 
men who  eulogized  Frances  E.  Willard,  and  many  other  men  reverently 
paused  before  the  statue,  speaking  of  Miss  Willard  as  teacher,  philan- 
thropist, reformer,  benefactor  and  friend.  Among  the  hundreds  of 
visitors  there  were  some,  no  doubt,  who  could  not  easily  adapt  their 
views  to  correspond  with  the  new  order,  but  if  this  were  so,  they 
were  silent,  and  only  words  of  praise  and  admiration  were  heard. 

This  beautiful  marble  portrait,  designed  by  Helen  Farnsworth 
Mears  of  Wisconsin,  a  pupil  of  St.  Gaudens,  blessed  the  women  whoT 
stood  so  silently  before  it,  some  with  tears  in  their  eyes  but  with  a 
smile  upon  their  lips  as  they  were  impressively  reminded  of  the  true 
meaning  of  womanliness,  spirituality  and  Christianity.  It  blessed  the 
children  who  made  up  the  unique  and  inspiring  procession,  the  like 
of  which  was  never  before  seen  at  the  Capitol,  as  thousands  of  little 
hands  placed  flowers  at  the  foot  of  the  statue  and  bore  away  with 
them  a  visible  reminder  of  Frances  E.  Willard  which  will  be  an  edu- 

237 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


cator  in  many  a  home — the  statue  medal  presented  to  each  child  by 
Miss  Anna  A.  Gordon,  chairman  of  the  Frances  E.  Willard  Statue 
Commission,  appointed  by  the  governor  of  Illinois.  These  blessings 
were  by  no  means  confined  to  the  large  number  of  people  who  were 
privileged  to  be  present  in  the  Capitol,  but  they  radiated  throughout 
the  entire  world. 

Someone  writing  of  the  reception  of  the  statue  has  aptly  said  that 
"The  heroes  and  statesmen  in  this  Valhalla  looked  on  in  astonishment, 
and  when  someone  asked  if  Miss  Willard  had  signed  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  James  A.  Garfield  replied  that  she  had,  and  was 
worthy  to  stand  among  the  immortals  of  all  time,  for  he  had  heard 
her  voice  and  knew  of  her  labor  for  the  freedom  of  her  people ;  freedom 
from  the  combination  of  vice  and  drunkenness." 

On  the  pedestal  are  Frances  Willard's  own  words:  "Ah!  it  is 
women  who  have  given  the  costliest  hostages  to  fortune!  Out  into  the 
battle  of  life  they  have  sent  their  best  beloved  with  fearful  odds  against 
them.  Oh,  by  the  dangers  they  have  dared ;  by  the  hours  of  patient 
watching  over  beds  where  helpless  children  lay;  by  the  incense  of  ten 
thousand  prayers  wafted  from  their  gentle  lips  to  heaven,  I  charge  you 
give  them  power  to  protect  along  life's  treacherous  highway  those  whom 
they  have  so  loved." 

At  the  large  evening  gathering,  presided  over  by  the  national  pres- 
ident, Mrs.  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens,  women  from  all  over  the  country 
participated  in  the  program.  Katharine  Lent  Stevenson's  inspirational 
poem  was  read,  two  stanzas  of  which  follow: 

"How  great  she  stands! 
A  mountain-peak,  her  soul  ; 

An  ocean  wide ;  a  river  sweeping  on  with  full,  free  tide ; 
A  sacred  shrine  where  holiest  things  abide; 
How  great  she  stands! 

"Stand,  radiant  soul! 
Here,  in  the  center  of  our  nation's  heart; 
Forever  of  its  best  life  thou'rt  a  part; 
Here  thou  shalt  draw  thy  land  to  what  thou  art; 
Stand,  radiant  soul!" 

238 


A    Golden    History;    a    Golden    Prophecy 

In  commenting  on  this  statue,  Margaret  Ellis  said,  "It  makes  this 
historic  hall  seem  homelike  and  peaceful.  It  points  the  way  for  women, 
not  only  to  stand  amid  the  statues  of  the  great  and  powerful  of  our 
country,  but  to  sit  in  council  as  well  in  national  legislative  halls.  Many 
times,  when  in  perplexity,  I  have  visited  the  statue  and  received  the 
strength  I  needed.  Members  of  Congress  of  like  mind  with  us  say 
that  they  have  had  similar  experiences." 

Another  commemoration  of  Frances  Willard,  occurring  many  years 
later,  also  is  of  lasting  interest  and  influence.  At  the  opening  of  the 
twentieth  century  in  the  city  of  New  York,  there  was  established  a 
Hall  of  Fame  for  the  preservation  and  exaltation  of  the  names  of 
the  great  of  our  country.  A  board  composed  of  110  electors  decides 
once  in  five  years  what  names  shall  be  added.  In  1910,  ten  distin- 
guished men  and  women  were  elected.  Included  in  that  honored 
list  was  the  illustrious  name  of  Frances  E.  Willard. 

In  the  summer  of  1921,  a  handsome  bronze  tablet,  to  the  memory 
of  Frances  Willard,  was  unveiled  in  the  Hall  of  Fame,  New  York 
University.  A  most  impressive  ceremony  took  place  in  the  colonnade. 
Many  others  were  honored  by  memorial  tablets.  Each  new  tablet  was 
covered  by  an  American  flag  which  was  lifted  to  the  roll  of  a  drum 
and  the  sound  of  a  trumpet.  Mrs.  L.  M.  De  Silva,  corresponding 
secretary  of  New  York  state  W.  C.  T.  U.,  drew  aside  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  from  Miss  Willard's  tablet,  while  Mrs.  Ella  A.  Boole,  vice- 
president-at-large  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  and  president  of  the 
New  York  W.  C.  T.  U.  said  feelingly:  'As  a  representative  of  the 
National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  I  have  the  great 
honor  to  unveil  the  tablet  inscribed  with  the  name  of  Frances  Elizabeth 
Willard,  which  has  been  chosen  by  the  electors  for  perpetual  commem- 
oration in  the  Hall  of  Fame  for  Great  Americans,  and  which  bears 
the  following  inscription:  'Were  I  asked  to  define  in  a  sentence  the 
thought  and  purpose  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union, 
I  would  reply,  "it  is  to  make  the  whole  world  homelike !"  '  " 

In  1923,  when  in  the  Hall  of  Fame  the  bust  of  Frances  Willard, 
designed  by  Lorado  Taft,  was  unveiled,  the  commemorative  address 
was  made  by  Anna  Gordon.  Mrs.  Boole  made  the  presentation  an- 
nouncement, and  Mr.  Oliver  A.  Willard,  a  relative,  unveiled  the 
portrait  bust. 

239 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


Impressively,  Miss  Gordon  said,  "  'Blessed  are  the  inclusive, 
for  they  shall  be  included' — a  beatitude  original  with  Frances  Wil- 
lard,  characterizes  this  distinguished  woman  of  rare,  radiant  per- 
sonality. Today,  this  Hall  of  Fame  where  through  the  gracious  gen- 
erosity of  New  York  University,  mighty  memories  are  to  be  kept  alive, 
is  honored  in  receiving  the  portrait  bust  of  Frances  Elizabeth  Wil- 
lard. 

"Frances  Willard  passionately  loved  humanity. 

"Next  to  her  belief  in  God,  she  believed  in  humanity.  She  was 
a  profound  student  and  eloquent  advocate  of  all  great  humanitarian  and 
social  reforms.  'God  bless  the  crowd,'  ever  prayed  her  yearning, 
sympathetic,  unselfish  soul.  She  scouted  the  old  adage,  'Each  for  him- 
self and  the  devil  take  the  hindmost.'  She  heralded  the  coming  day 
for  which  she  valiantly  toiled — the  day  when  the  spirit  of  a  new  adage 
based  on  New  Testament  ethics,  'Each  for  the  other  that  there  may 
be  no  hindmost  for  the  devil  to  take,'  shall  usher  in  as  a  gloriously 
established  fact,  the  brotherhood  of  man,  the  federation  of  the  world. 
'Only  the  Golden  Rule  of  Christ  can  bring  the  Golden  Age  of  Man,' 
declared  this  prophetic  genius — this  spiritual  seer. 

"Frances  Willard  was  a  pioneer. 

"She  came  of  pioneer  New  England  stock,  a  direct  descendant  of 
Major  Simon  Willard,  the  first  Willard  to  come  from  the  old  England 
to  the  new,  and  who  was  one  of  the  founders  of  Concord,  Massa- 
chusetts. Another  paternal  ancestor  was  pastor  of  the  Old  South  Church 
in  Boston  and  president  of  Harvard  University.  Still  another  was  the 
architect  of  Bunker  Hill  monument.  Born  in  New  York  State  of 
intellectual,  adventurous  parents,  Frances  Willard  became  a  pioneer 
in  fields  of  philanthropy  and  reform.  Here  her  wide  vision,  her 
patriotic  fervor,  her  true  womanliness,  her  daring  faith,  and  her  in- 
vincible courage  helped  blaze  through  the  jungles  of  apathy,  ignorance, 
prejudice  and  opposition,  a  trail  that  American  womanhood  today  safely 
and  victoriously  is  following. 

"Frances  Willard  was  a  brilliant  student  and  a  renowned  educator. 

"In  her  young  womanhood  as  teacher,  preceptress  and  dean  of 
women,  she  held  many  influential  positions.  She  was  president  of  the 
first  college  for  women  entirely  under  the  management  of  women.  At 
Evanston,  Illinois,  her  long  time  home,  she  was  Dean  of  Women  and 
Professor  of  Aesthetics  in  her  alma  mater.  Northwestern  University. 


240 


A    Golden    History;    a    Golden    Prophecy 

Thousands  of  young  men  and  women  pupils  came  under  the  charm 
of  her  unique  class-room  methods  and  were  indelibly  impressed  with 
high  and  noble  ideals  of  life  and  service. 

"Frances  Willard  was  a  persuasive,  magnetic  orator. 

"In  the  hearts  of  the  people  throughout  the  nation  and  the  world 
she  kindled  a  conscience  on  the  temperance  question.  She  was  the 
most  remarkable  woman  organizer  of  her  century.  She  was  one  of 
the  first  internationalists  among  women.  Thirty-nine  years  ago  she 
founded  the  World's  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  and  sent 
out  the  first  world-wide  clarion  call  for  the  protection  of  the  home, 
for  the  outlawing  of  the  liquor  traffic,  for  the  enfranchisement  of 
women,  for  courts  of  international  arbitration,  for  an  equal  standard 
of  purity  for  men  and  women,  for  justice  as  opposed  to  greed  and 
gain,  and  for  the  triumph  of  Christ's  golden  rule  in  custom  and  in  law. 
Our  Quaker  poet,  John  G.  Whittier,  who  wrote  an  introduction  to 
Miss  Willard's  first  literary  venture  said  of  her  as  in  later  years, 
she  launched  her  constructive  program  of  world  activities:  'She  knew 
the  power  of  banded  ill  but  felt  that  love  was  stronger  still;  and 
organized  for  doing  good,  the  world's  united  womanhood.' 

"Frances  E.  Willard  helped  make  the  world  wider  for  women  and 
more  homelike  for  humanity.  'She  had  the  will  to  serve  and  bear, — 
The  will  to  love  and  dare.'  Thus  shall  history's  verdict  immortalize 
America's  patriot,  philanthropist,  author,  orator,  educator,  lover  of 
humanity — Frances  Elizabeth  Willard." 

The  writer  has  given  only  glimpses  of  the  high  points  of  the  past. 
If  she  could  portray  a  composite  picture  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  it  would 
be  the  portrait  of  a  youthful  mother,  a  rarely  endowed  woman  looking 
hopefully  into  the  foreground  of  an  unknown  future.  Again  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.  is  a  pioneer,  a  forerunner  in  a  new  crusade  and  she 
points  the  way  to  a  forward,  moral  and  spiritual  movement. 

While  trying  to  keep  up  the  swift  pace  required  of  a  prohibition 
patriot,  white-ribbon  women  have  been  reminded  of  Lewis  Carroll's 
story  of  "Alice  in  Wonderland".  The  Queen,  it  will  be  recalled, 
took  Alice  by  the  hand  and  together  they  started  to  run  a  race.  At 
last  Alice,  in  a  breathless  condition,  said  to  her  companion,  "We  do 
not  seem  to  get  an>^where.  In  my  country  by  this  time  we  surely 
would  be  somewhere."  "In  this  country,"  replied  the  Queen,  "it  takes 
all  the  running  you  can  do  even  to  keep  in  the  same  place!" 

241 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


In  the  early  years  of  organization  work  the  women  when  con- 
fronted with  the  legally  protected  liquor  traffic  persistently  declared, 
"The  liquor  traffic  must  go!"  Since  the  victory  of  Federal  prohibition, 
and  the  reaction  of  the  World  War,  faced  with  the  difficulties  and 
dangers  from  nullifiers  of  the  prohibition  law,  an  apathetic  electorate, 
gioup  of  self-centered  politicians,  mercenary  propagandists  of  war  and 
a  spirit  of  international  hate,  the  white-ribboners  are  righteously  de- 
termined that  "The  nullifiers  of  prohibition  and  the  war-makers  must 
go."  The  same  high  principles  and  progressive  program  adopted  at 
the  first  convention  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  are  the  identical 
idenls  being  pressed  today  by  the  organization,  and  are  in  reality  the 
basis  of  action  for  all  the  allied  temperance  and  philanthropic  forces. 
This  practical,  progressive  program  will  be  carried  over  into  the  new 
era — the  coming  fifty-year  crusade. 

Recently  while  talking  with  Dr.  Sarah  F.  Wliiting,  long  professor 
of  astronomy  at  Wellesley  College,  about  the  slow  but  sure  progress 
of  reforms,  Dr.  Wliiting  taught  the  writer  a  moral  and  scientific 
lesson  when  she  exclaimed:  "It  is  like  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes, 
in  that  the  sun  and  the  moon  work  together  to  draw  the  equatorial 
belt  into  their  own  plane;  but  the  equatorial  belt  cannot  move  without 
dragging  with  it  the  whole  inert  mass  of  the  earth.  The  motion  is 
slow  but  continuous,  but  give  it  time  enough  and  the  whole  heavens 
are  changed."  Dr.  Whiting,  an  ardent  white-ribboner,  well  under- 
stands how  to  reach  the  human  inert  mass,  and  many  young  lives  have 
responded  to  her  temperance  appeal. 

Carlisle,  in  writing  the  epitaph  of  a  great  woman,  used  one  of  the 
finest  phrases  in  literature  when  he  said  she  had  about  her  "a  soft 
invincibility."  Beginning  with  the  Crusaders  who  not  only  prayed, 
but  used  hatchets,  the  host  of  heroic  W.  C.  T.  U.  leaders  who  made 
possible  the  vast  victories  of  fifty  years  have  at  times,  in  a  womanly 
way,  displayed  "a  soft  invincibility" — as  forceful  and  explosive  as 
nitro-glycerine.  When  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Moses  he 
numbered  the  Israelites — especially  the  men  of  war.  When  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  through  the  National  W.  C.  T,  U.,  came  to 
"Elizabeth" — the  historian,  she  tried  to  number  the  women  of  war — 
the  peaceful  war  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U. !  Since  1873,  the  day  of  the 
marching  mothers  of  the  Crusade,  an  innumerable  host  have  said,  "Wc 

242 


A   Golden    History;    a    Golden    Prophecy 


are   well   able   to   overcome   the   enemy   and   to  possess   the   promised 
land".  I 

The  gratitude  of  thousands  of  white-ribboners  is  most  heartily 
extended  to  the  brotherly  men  of  America — the  best  in  the  world — who 
have  rendered  in  so  many  ways  invaluable  aid  in  securing  W.  C.  T.  U. 
victories.  These  men,  it  will  be  noted,  are  in  a  different  class  from 
the  politicians  who  fittingly  have  received  the  term  of  the  "masculinity 
superiority  complex." 

Those  still  facing  the  problems  of  the  earthly  life  take  courage 
each  morning  as  they  think,  "Every  day  is  a  new  beginning,  Every 
day  is  the  world  made  new."  How  beautiful  has  been  the  experience 
of  each  one  who  has  awakened  some  new  morning  to  the  life  abundant. 
These  inspired  lines  strengthen  our  faith  in  immortality: 

"On  any  morning  think  of 

Stepping   on   shore   and   finding   it   Heaven, 

Of  taking  hold  of  a  hand  and 

Finding  it  God's  Hand, 

Of  breathing  of  new  air  and 

Finding  it  celestial  air. 

Of  feeling  invigorated  and 

Finding  it  immortality. 

Of  passing  from  storm  and  tempest 

To   an   unknown  calm. 

Of  waking  up  and  finding  it  Home." 
"The  joy  of  life  and  of  sacrificial  service  was  theirs  in  fullest 
measure — these  'comrades  of  yesterday  now  saints  of  God,'  "  reverently 
aiiJ  reminiscently  says  the  national  president.  "Their  beloved  names 
rre  forever  enshrined  in  our  hearts.  These  warrior-souled  comrades 
have  left  their  indelible  impression  upon  our  national  work.  Men, 
w'ftmen  and  children  of  this  generation  and  for  years  to  come  will 
rise  up  and  call  them  blessed.  Their  faith  and  courage  triumphed 
over  all  fears.  We  hopefully  take  up  the  tasks  that  they  have  laid 
down.  The  memory  of  their  devoted  lives  will  incite  us  to  pray  with 
theii  faith  and  work  with  their  courage,  and  so  in  the  new  crusade 
bring  our  organization  to  even  greater  heights  of  power  and  influence.'' 
There  is  a  new  map  of  the  world.  It  is  stated  by  geographical 
experts  that  ''fifty  new  political  and  territorial  divisions  have  arisen, 
aggregating  one-fifth  of  the  land  area  and  one-fifth  of  the  population 

243 


Women    Torc  h- b  barer  s 


of  the  globe."  Twenty  republics  are  located  in  portions  of  the  area 
that  constituted  Russia.  Others  are  in  the  territory  once  occupied  by 
Germany,  Austria,  Hungary,  and  Turkey,  and  still  others  are  scat- 
tered in  various  parts  of  the  world — as  colonies,  protectorates  or  de- 
pendencies. How  to  live  together  in  harmony,  is  the  vital  question. 
The  United  States  Secretary  of  State,  Charles  Evans  Hughes,  presi- 
dent of  the  American  Bar  Association,  speaking  recently  in  Europe, 
said:  "We  worship  with  you  in  an  invisible  temple  of  justice,  whose 
votaries  know  no  distinction  of  race,  country  or  condition."  Did  not 
this  eminent  statesman  point  the  way  toward  a  higher  civilization? 
It  is  not  enough  for  America  to  have  first  honors  in  the  recent  Olympic 
Games.  Should  not  the  United  States  furnish  the  leadership  for  the 
democracies  of  the  world?  The  program  of  the  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union  for  the  opening  of  the  next  fifty  years  will  mafcc 
more  articulate  and  visible  this  "temple  of  justice"  built  by  those  who 
know  "no  distinction  of  race,  country  or  condition." 

Guido's  wonderful  picture,  'The  Archangel  Michael  and  Fiend 
Lucifer  in  Deadly  Struggle"  typifies  our  conflict  with  Alcohol.  The 
angel,  "strong,  serene  and  sunny-haired,"  as  Frances  Willard  used  to 
say,  is  represented  with  his  foot  upon  the  head  of  his  already  prostrate 
foe.  "With  one  hand  he  is  tightening  about  the  monster's  body  a 
chain  of  moral  suasion,  and  in  the  other  he  holds  the  swift  down- 
gliding  sword  of  law,  while  in  constant  motion  are  his  out-spread 
wings  of  faith  and  prayer." 

"At  first  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  was  but  a 
beam  in  the  darkness,  then  a  torch  held  up  in  the  gloom,  then  a 
'light  in  the  window  for  thee,  brother',  then  a  beacon  flaming  grandly 
out  upon  the  most  dangerous  headland  of  the  republic's  coast,  but 
steadily  it  grows  and  gathers  light,  until  at  last  it  shall  climb  the 
zenith  like  another  sun  and  shed  the  healing  radiance  of  its  beams 
into  the  darkest  heart  and  most  desolate  home.  Let  us  never  be  dis- 
couraged.   It  is  God's  great  beacon-light,  not  ours." 

"Hold  high  the  torch!  You  did  not  light  its  glow: 
*Twas  given  you  from  other  hands,  you  know. 
'Tis  only  yours  to  keep  it  burning  bright, 
Yours  to  pass  on  when  you  no  more  need  light. 
For  there  are  little  feet  that  you  must  guide. 
And  little  forms  go  marching  by  your  side; 


244 


A    Golden    History;    a    Golden    Prophecy 

Their  eyes  are  watching  every  tear  and  smile, 
And  efforts  that  you  think  are  not  worth  while 
May  sometimes  be  the  very  helps  they  need, 
Actions  to  which  their  souls  would  give  most  heed. 
So  that  in  turn  they'll  lift  it  high  and  say, 
'I  watched  my  mother  carry  it  this  way.'  " 
It  is  hoped   that   history's  verdict   upon  the  women   torch-bearers 

shall  be,   "By  God's  blessing  they  helped  to   make   the  world  wider 

for  women  and  more  homelike  for  humanity." 


245 


APPENDIX 


Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 
History  Of  Fifty  Years 

CHRONOLOGICAL  SUMMARY 

1874-1924 

Woman's  Temperance  Crusade 

1873-1874 

National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 

The  First  Decade:  1874-1884 

1874    Woman's  Temperance  Crusade  continued  from  1873. 

1874    August  16:  Crusaders  at  Chautauqua  issue  call  for  organizing 

convention. 
1874  November  18-20:  National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  organized  in  Cleveland,  Ohio — Officers  elected:  Presi- 
dent, Mrs.  Annie  Wittenmyer;  corresponding  secretary,  Frances 
E.  Willard;  recording  secretary,  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Johnson; 
assistant  recording  secretary,  Mrs.  Mary  T.  Burt;  treasurer, 
Mrs.  W.  A.  Ingham. 
1876  Huge  W.  C.  T.  U.  petition  for  Constitutional  Prohibition  pres- 
ented to  Congress  by  Senator  Henry  W.  Blair  of  New  Hamp- 
shire. Frances  Willard  addressed  the  Judiciary  Committee  on 
its  behalf. 

1879  Frances  E.  Willard  elected  president  at  Indianapolis  convention. 

1880  The  term,  "Superintendent  of  Department,"  substituted  for 
"Standing  Committee."  Nearly  all  departments  now  existing 
were  adopted  in  this  decade — many  of  them  under  different 
names.  Some  of  the  early  departments  have  been  merged  into 
those  of  today. 

1882  Secured  enactment  in  Vermont  of  Scientific  Temperance  Edu- 
cation Law — the  first  in  all  the  world.  In  twenty  years  every 
state  and  the  Congress  had  passed  similar  laws. 

1883  Nation-wide  organization  tour  of  Frances  Willard  and  Anna 
Gordon;  many  southern  and  western  states  organized. 

246 


Appendix:    Chronological    Summary 

1883     The  official   organ   Our    Unio?i   consolidated  with   The  Signal 

of   Illinois.      The    t/nion   Signal   made   its   first    appearance  on 

January  4. 
1883     National  convention  in  Detroit,  Michigan;  departments  of  work 

classified  under  heads  of  Organization,  Preventive,  Educational, 

Evangelistic,  Social  and  Legal. 

1883  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  organized. 

The  high  points  of  the  first  decade  were:  Organization  of  the 
W.  C.  T.  U. ;  "Declaration  of  Principles"  written  by  Frances 
Willard;  "Do  Everything  Policy"  resulting  in  department  work; 
Scientific  Temperance  Instruction  in  the  public  schools  developed 
by  Mary  Hanchett  Hunt,  national  superintendent ;  first  memorial 
to  the  International  Sunday  School  Association,  asking  for  a 
quarterly  temperance  lesson ;  petitions  introduced  into  Congress. 

The  Second  Decade:  1884-1894 

1884  Petition  addressed  to  all  the  governments  of  the  world,  called 
the  "Pol5'glot",  written  and  sent  out  by  Frances  Willard.  It 
asked  for  the  prohibition  of  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  alco- 
holic liquors,  opium,  and  legalized  vice. 

1885  W.  C.  T.  U.  constitutional  amendment  adopted  requiring  ten 
cents  per  member  dues  from  state  auxiliaries. 

1886  An  affiliated  interest — the  National  Temperance  Hospital  and 
Training  School  for  Nurses — established;  Mrs.  J.  B.  Hobbs, 
Mrs.  L.  H.  Plumb  and  Dr.  Mary  Weeks  Burnett,  managers. 

1889  An  affiliated  interest — the  Woman's  Temperance  Publishing 
Association  founded;  President,  Mrs.  Matilda  B.  Carse;  editor. 
Miss  Alice  M.  Guernsey;  advisory  committee.  National  W.  C. 
T.  U.  president.  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  secretary. 

1889     W.  C.  T.  U.  Lecture  Bureau  established. 

1889  The  Oak  and  Ivy  Leaf,  organ  of  the  Young  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union  founded;  editors.  Miss  Margaret  A.  Sud- 
duth,  Miss  Jennie  A.  Stewart. 

1890  The  International  Sunday  School  Convention  held  at  Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania,  granted  a  Quarterly  Temperance  Lesson,  distinct 
and  uncomplicated  with  any  other  subject. 

1891  First  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention  held  at  Faneuil  Hall, 
Boston,  Massachusetts. 

247 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


1893     World's  and  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  conventions  held  in  Chi- 
cago, Illinois,  in  connection  with  the  Columbian  Exposition. 

In  this  second  decade  there  was  marked  development  in  de- 
partment plans  and  programs.     For  convenience,  the  data  about 
all  departments  up  to  1924  is  included.     The  date  the  depart- 
ment was  adopted  is  first  given,  and  the  list  is  alphabetically  ar- 
ranged. 
Anti-Narcotics:    (1884)    Superintendents:    Mrs.    Mary   Bynon   Reese; 
(1886 — Changed  to  Department  of  Narcotics)   Mrs.  J.  H,  Harris, 
Mrs.  E.  B.  Ingalls;  (1898 — Changed  to  Anti- Narcotics)  Mrs.  Alta 
Bohren,  Miss  Helen  G.  H.  Estelle. 
Child   PF  elf  are:  (1907)    (Juvenile    Courts,   Industrial   Education,   and 
Anti-Child  Labor).     Superintendent:  Mrs.  Minnie  U.  Rutherford. 
Associate;  To  prevent  employment  of  young  children,  Mrs.  Harriet 
B.  Kells.      (1917 — Department  name  changed  to  Child  Welfare). 
Superintendents:   Mrs.   Minnie  U.  Rutherford,   Mrs.  Elizabeth  A. 
Perkins. 

Christian  Citizenship:  (1896)  Superintendents:  Mrs.  Anna  F.  Beiler, 
Miss  Lucy  Page  Gaston,  Mrs.  Margaret  Dye  Ellis,  Mrs.  C.  B. 
Buell,  Mrs.  Mary  Jewett  Telford,  Mrs.  Helen  D.  Harford,  Mrs. 
Emma  L.  Starrett,  Mrs.  Deborah  Knox  Livingston,  Mrs.  Ida  B. 
Wise  Smith. 

Evangelistic:   (1883)    Superintendents:  Mrs.   Hannah  Whitall  Smith, 
Mrs.  Annie  Palmer,  Mrs.  S.  M.  I.  Henry,  Miss  Helen  L.  Hood, 
Miss  Elizabeth  W.  Greenwood,  Rev.  Mary  E.  Kuhl,  Rev.   Helen 
Hyde  Carlson,  Mrs.  Mary  Harris  Armor. 
(1898)  Almshouse  Work  was  added  to  this  department. 

Fairs  and  Open  Air  Meetings:  (1880)  (State  and  County  Fairs)  Super- 
intendents: Mrs.  G.  A.  Moody,  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Leavitt,  Mrs.  Jose- 
phine R.  Nichols,  Mrs.  M.  C.  Campfield,  Mrs.  Clara  V.  Weaver, 
Mrs.  Rebecca  B.  Chambers,  Mrs.  Hannah  T.  Guild;  (1902— Name 
changed  to  Fairs  and  Open  Air  Meetings)  Mrs.  Julia  D.  Phelps, 
Mrs.  Carolyn  P.  Lindsay.  (1920 — Name  changed  to  Exhibits  and 
Fairs). 

Flower  Mission:  (1883)  Superintendents:  Miss  Jennie  Cassedaj^  Miss 
Gertrude  Ferguson,  Miss  Alice  Sudduth,  Mrs.  Angie  F.  Newman, 
Miss  Ethel  Austin  Shrlgley,  Miss  Leila  M.  Sewall,  Miss  Etta  F. 
Lockwood,  Miss  Leila  M.  Sewall. 


248 


A  p  p  E  N  D I  x:    Chronological    Summary 

Franchise:  (1881)  Qjmmittee:  Frances  E,  Willard,  Mary  A.  Liver- 
more,  J.  Ellen  Foster.  Superintendents:  Mrs.  Mary  G.  C.  Leavitt, 
Mrs.  Zerelda  G.  Wallace,  Rev.  Anna  H.  Shavvr,  Mrs.  Theresa  A. 
Jenkins,  Dr.  Louise  C.  Purington,  Mis§  Marie  C.  Brehm,  Mrs.  Ella 
Stewart,  Dr.  Maude  Mcllvaine  Sanders,  Rev.  Mecca  Marie  Varney, 
Mrs.  Sophie  L,  Clark,  Mrs.  Deborah  Knox  Livingston.  (1918 — De- 
partment name  changed  to  Suffrage)  (1920 — Mrs.  Livingston  carried 
on  the  work  in  the  department  of  Christian  Citizenship). 

Health  and  Heredity.  (1881)  (Heredity)  Superintendents:  Dr.  Sarah 
Hackett  Stevenson,  Mrs.  M.  L.  Griffith,  Mrs.  J.  H.  Kellogg,  Dr. 
Mary  Weeks  Burnett,  Dr.  Orpha  Baldwin,  Mrs.  R.  A.  Armstrong, 
Dr.  Annette  J.  Shaw;  (Health)  Dr.  Bessie  Cushman,  Miss  Mary 
H.  Mather,  Dr.  Orpha  Baldwin,  Dr.  Annette  J.  Shaw,  Miss  Julia 
Colman.  (1894 — Departments  combined  under  the  name  of  Health 
and  Heredity)  Miss  Julia  Colman,  Dr.  Louise  C.  Purington;  (1914 
— Health  and  Heredity  and  Physical  Education  combined  under 
Health)  Mrs.  Frances  Waite  Leiter,  Dr.  P.  S.  Bourdeau-Sisco. 

Institutes:  (1889)  (School  of  Methods)  Superintendents:  Miss  Mary 
Allen  West,  Mrs.  Narcissa  White  Kinney.  (1894 — School  of  Meth- 
ods and  Parliamentary  Usage)  Mrs.  Anna  S.  Benjamin.  (1900 — 
Changed  to  W.  C.  T.  U.  Institutes)  Mrs.  Mary  Hadley  Hall,  Mrs. 
Margaret  C.  Munns,  Mrs.  Lettie  Hill  May,  Mrs.  Anna  Marden 
De  Yo. 

Kindergarten:  (1884)  Superintendents:  Mrs.  E.  G.  Greene,  Miss 
Lily  Reynolds,  Miss  Mary  McDowell,  Miss  Mary  Bannister  Wil- 
lard, Miss  Jennie  M.  Williamson,  Miss  Martha  Crombie  Wood, 
Miss  Clara  Wheeler. 

Legislation:  (1874)  Standing  Committee:  Mrs.  Annie  Wittenmyer, 
Mrs.  Mary  A.  Woodbridge,  Mrs.  J.  Ellen  Foster.  (1880)  Super- 
intendents: Mrs.  J.  Ellen  Foster,  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Woodbridge,  Mrs. 
Ada  M.  Bittenbender,  Mrs.  Catharine  Waugh  McCulloch,  Mrs. 
Frances  Belford,  Mrs.  Mary  Towne  Burt,  Mrs.  Margaret  Dye  Ellis, 
Mrs.  Lenna  Lowe  Yost. 

Loyal  Temperance  Legion:  (1874)  (Juvenile  Work)  Committees: 
(1880)  Superintendents:  Miss  Elizabeth  W.  Greenwood,  Mrs. 
Nellie  H.  Bayley,  Mrs.  Anna  M.  Hammer,  Mrs.  Helen  G.  Rice, 
Miss  Margaret  Wintringer,  (1890 — Department  changed  from  Ju- 
venile Work  to  Loyal  Temperance  Legion)    (1895 — Changed  from 

249 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


a  department  to  a  Branch)  Mrs.  Culla  J.  Vayhinger,  Miss  Edna 
Rowan,  Miss  Mary  B.  Ervin. 

Literature:  (1877)  Superintendents:  Miss  Julia  Colman,  Mrs.  F.  H. 
Rastall,  Mrs.  Katharine  Lent  Stevenson,  Mrs.  Esther  T.  Housh, 
Miss  Helen  L.  Hood,  Miss  Ellen  D.  Morris,  Mrs.  Mae  A.  Davis, 
Mrs.  Susanna  M.  D.  Fry,  Miss  Addie  A.  Austin.  Literature  carried 
by  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Publishing  House.  (1915— National  de- 
partment discontinued. ) 

Medal  Contests:  (1896)  Superintendents:  Mrs.  A.  E.  Carman.  (1897) 
(W.  C.  T.  U.  and  Demorest  Contests  Systems  united.)  Mrs.  Maude 
Carman  Cathcart. 

Medical  Temperance:  (1883)  Superintendents:  Miss  Jennie  P.  Duty, 
Mrs.  J.  Butler,  Mrs.  Caroline  A.  Leech;  In  1895,  Mrs.  Martha  M. 
Allen. 

Mercy:  (1890)  Superintendent,  Mrs.  Mary  F.  Lovell ;  (1916  Trans- 
ferred to  Loyal  Temperance  Legion  Branch.) 

Purity:  (1875)  (Suppression  of  Social  Evil)  (1880)  Mrs.  Dr.  J.  H. 
Kellogg;  (1886 — Name  changed  to  Social  Purity)  Frances  E.  Wil- 
lard;  (1888 — Changed  to  Department  of  White  Cross  and  White 
Shield)  (1890— Promotion  of  Social  Purity)  (1892— Department  of 
Purity)  Dr.  Mary  Wood  Allen,  Mrs.  Helen  L.  Bullock;  (1907— 
Moral  Education)  (1908— Purity)  Mrs.  Rose  Wood  Allen  Chap- 
man; (1908 — Mothers  Meetings  and  White  Ribbon  Recruits)  Mrs. 
Helen  L.  Bullock;  (1911— Curfew)  Miss  Mary  E.  Brown;  (1912— 
Purity)  Mrs.  Leona  T.  Field;  (1913 — Curfew  and  Policewomen) 
Miss  Mary  E.  Brown;  (1914 — Mothers  Meetings,  White  Ribbon 
Recruits  and  Purity)  Mrs.  Helen  L.  Bullock;  (1916— Moral  Edu- 
cation and  Race  Betterment)  Miss  Mary  E,  Brown;  (1917 — 
Mothers  Meetings  and  White  Ribbon  Recruits)  Mrs.  Frances  B. 
Heald;  Mrs.  Susan  McWhirter  Ostrom;  (1920— Social  Morality) 
Mrs.  Gertrude  S.  Martin,  Dr.  Valeria  H.  Parker. 

Parliamentary  Usage:  (1887)  Superintendents:  until  1917 — thirty  con- 
secutive years — Mrs.  Anna  S.  Benjamin;  Mrs.  L  W.  Gleason. 

Peace  and  International  Arbitration:  (1888)  Superintendents:  Mrs. 
Hannah  J.  Bailey,  Mrs.  William  J.  Bryan,  Mrs.  Ida  DeGarmo, 
Miss  Alice  L.  Kercher,  Mrs.  Effie  Danforth  McAfee. 

Penal  and  Reformatory  Work:  (1877)  Standing  Committee:  Mrs. 
W.  K.  Denny,  chairman.   (1878-1890)   Superintendent:  Mrs.  J.  K. 


250 


Appendix:    Chronological    Summary 

Barney.  (1891)  Department  divided  into  three  parts:  Mrs.  Mary- 
Teats,  superintendent  of  Prison  and  Jail  Work;  Miss  C.  E.  Coffin, 
of  Police  Station  Work;  Miss  M.  A.  Morrison,  of  Almshouse  Work. 
(1892)  Mrs.  Jane  M.  Kinney,  superintendent  of  Penal  Work.  Mrs. 
Emma  L.  Starrett,  Mrs.  Minnie  B.  Horning.  (1898)  Almshouse 
Work  given  to  Evangelistic  Department.  (1915)  Department  changed 
to  Prison  Reform. 

The  Press:  (1874)  Chairmen  of  Standing  Committees:  Mrs.  L.  M. 
N.  Stevens,  Mrs.  A.  C.  Hillyer.  (1880)  Superintendents:  Miss  Marj^ 
C.  Bancroft,  Miss  Laura  Moore,  Mrs.  Caroline  B.  Buell,  Mrs.  Esther 
T.  Housh,  Miss  Mary  Henry,  Miss  Julia  A.  Ames,  Miss  Alice  E. 
Briggs,  Mrs.  Harriet  B.  Kells,  Miss  Lodie  Reed,  Mrs.  Katharine 
Lent  Stevenson,  Mrs.  Minnie  B.  Horning,  Miss  Eva  Kilbreth  Fos- 
ter, Mrs.  Jennie  M.  Kemp,  Mrs.  Mildred  A.  Spencer,  Mrs.  Susan 
McWhirter  Ostrom,  Mrs.  Margaret  B.  Piatt;  (1919— Publicity) 
Mrs.  Clara  C.  Chapin,  Mrs.  Anna  P.  George,  Miss  Bertha  Bov^^man, 
Mrs.  Rosalind  Scott  Dunkin. 

Purity  in  Literature  and  Art:  (Suppression  of  Impure  Literature) 
(1884)  Superintendents:  Miss  Lucy  J.  Holmes,  Mrs.  Naomi  Tom- 
linson,  Mrs.  Deborah  Leeds,  Mrs.  Samuel  Clements.  (1890)  under 
the  title  of  Purity  in  Literature  and  Art  this  department  became  a 
sub-division  of  the  department  of  Purity  w^ith  Mrs.  Emilie  D.  Martin 
as  superintendent;  Mrs.  Harriet  Pritchard. 

Sabbath  Observance:  (1884)  (Suppression  of  Sabbath  Desecration) 
Superintendents :  Mrs.  Josephine  Bateham,  Mrs.  Varila  F.  Cox,  Mrs. 
Kathryn  Wert  Holler,  Mrs.  Susan  McWhirter  Ostrom,  Mrs.  Kate 
C.  Heidel,  Mrs.  L.  E.  Hudson,  Mrs.  Emma  L.  Starrett. 

Scientific  Temperance  Instruction:  (1874)  Teaching  in  public  schools 
and  Sunday  Schools  outlined  in  Plan  of  Work.  Inaugurated  under 
committee  on  Juvenile  Work,  Frances  Willard,  chairman.  (1878) 
Mrs.  S.  J.  Steele,  chairman  of  Committee  on  Colleges,  Seminaries 
and  Public  Schools.  (1880)  Superintendents:  Mrs.  Mary  H.  Hunt, 
Mrs.  Edith  Smith  Davis,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  O.  Middleton,  Miss  Cora 
Frances  Stoddard. 

School  Savings  Banks:  (1891)  Superintendent:  Mrs.  Sara  Louise 
Oberholtzer  (1916)  transferred  to  Loyal  Temperance  Legion  Branch 

Social  Meetings  and  Red  Letter  Days:  (1880)  Drawing  Room  Meet- 
ings)   Superintendents:   Mrs.    Mary   C.   Johnson,    Mrs.    Margaret 

251 


Women    Torc  h- bearer  s 


Bottome,   Mrs.   Harriet  B.  Kells,   Mrs.  Anna  M.   Hammer,   Mrs. 
Mary  D.  Tomlinson.  (1900)   Department  changed  to  Social  Meet- 
ings and  Red  Letter  Days.  Mrs.  Mary  D.  Tomlinson. 
Sunday  School:     (1874)   Committee:  Chairman,  Mrs.  E.  J.  Hackett, 
Miss  Lucia  E.  F.  Kimball.     (1880)    Superintendents:  Miss  Lucia 

E.  F.  K*imball,  Mrs.  Julia  Bidwell,  Mrs.  Stella  B.  Irvine. 
Temperance  and  Labor:  (1881)  Superintendents:  Mrs.  M.  C.  Nobles, 

Mrs.  W.  S.  Woods.  Mrs.  C.  S.  Jackson,  Mrs.  Augusta  Cooper,  Mrs. 
Anna  Sneed  Cairns,  Mrs.  S.  E  V.  Emery,  Mrs.  Mary  G.  Stucken- 
berg,  Mrs.  Mae  M.  Whitman,  Mrs.  Lucia  H.  F.  Additon.  (1921— 
Department  changed  to  Women  in  Industry)  Mrs.  Laura  Parks 
Miller. 

Temperance  and  Missions:  (1907)  Superintendents:  Miss  Ella  Gil- 
bert Ives,  Dr.  Louise  C.  Purington,  Mrs.  Caroline  McDowell. 

The  Bible  in  the  Public  Schools:  (1911)  Superintendents:  Mrs.  Jean 
B.  Wylie,   Mrs.  Lettie  Hill  May. 

Work  Among  Colored  People:  (1880)  Sub-divisions.  (1881)  Super- 
intendents: Mrs.  Jane  M.  Kinney,  Mrs.  Frances  E.  Harper,  Mrs. 
J.  E.  Ray,  Mrs.  Lucy  Thurman,  Mrs.  E.  E.  Peterson,  Mrs.  Marvm 
Williams. 

Work  Among  Foreigners:  (1880)  Superintendent:  Miss  Sarah  P. 
Morrison.  (1881)  Different  divisions  of  the  department  headed  by 
Mrs.  Henrietta  Skelton,  Mrs.  Mary  Stapler,  Mrs.  R.  A.  Hull, 
Miss  Saugstad,  Mrs.  Jane  M.  Kinney.    (1883-1899)    Mrs.  Sophie 

F.  Grubb,  Mrs.  Anna  J.  Darley,  Mrs.  Cornelia  B.  Forbes,  Mrs. 
Mary  B.  Wilson,  Mrs.  Ella  B.  Black.  (1918— Department  of  Amer- 
icanization) Mrs.  Katharine  Lent  Stevenson,  Mrs.  Mary  Clark 
Barnes,  Mrs.  Culla  J.  Vayhinger. 

Work  Among  Indians:  (1884)  Superintendents:  Mrs.  H.  C.  McCabe, 
Mrs.  Dorothy  J.  Cleveland,  Mrs.  Dorcas  J.  Spencer.  (1916)  Trans- 
ferred to  Christian  Citizenship  Department. 

Work  Among  Lumbermen  and  Miners:  (1883)  Superintendents: 
Mrs.  R.  G.  Peters,  Mrs.  Emma  Obenauer,  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Upham, 
Mrs.  Winnie  F.  English,  Mrs.  Emma  Shores,  Mrs.  W.  A.  Loyne, 
Mrs  Mary  E.  Kuhl,  Mrs.  Anna  A.  Walker.  (1916)  Transferred 
to  Christian  Citizenship  department. 

Work  Among  Railroad  Employes:  (1881)  Superintendents:  Miss 
Jennie   Smith,   Mrs.    Caroline   M.   Woodward,     Mrs.     Evalyn    N. 


252 


^A ppENDix:    Chronological    Summary 

Graham.     Railroad  Evangelist,  Miss  Jennie  Smith.    (1916)   Trans- 
ferred to  Christian  Citizenship  Department. 
Work  Among  Soldiers  and  Sailors:      (1881)    Superintendents:   Mrs. 
Sarah   A.   McClees,   Mrs.   Ella   Hoover  Thacher,   Mrs.   Richmond 
Pearson  Hobson,  Mrs.  Louise  F.  Chez,  Miss  Rebecca  Naomi  Rhoads. 

Young  Women's  Unions:  (1877)  Committees:  Miss  Jennie  F.  Duty, 
Mrs.  Frances  W.  Leiter,  Miss  Fanny  McCartney,  (1879)  Super- 
intendents: Mrs.  Frances  J.  Barnes.  (1883)  Name  changed  to 
Young  Woman's  Temperance  Work.  (1890)  Name  changed  to 
Young  Woman's  Work.  (1892)  Name  changed  to  Young  Woman's 
Branch,  General  Secretary,  Mrs.  Frances  J.  Barnes,  Mrs.  Ella  A. 
Boole,  Miss  Clara  Parrish,  Mrs.  Cora  E.  Seberry,  Miss  Rhena  E. 
G.  Mosher.  (1910)  Name  changed  to  Young  People's  Branch,  Mrs. 
Ross  Hayes  Schachner,  Mrs.  Mary  Anderson  Crawford,  Mrs.  Maude 
B.  Perkins. 

High  points  of  second  decade:  Progress  in  educational  lines  in 
the  public  schools  and  in  the  Sunday  Schools.  Increase  in  member- 
ship resulting  from  larger  number  of  organizers,  lecturers  and 
state  presidents  in  the  field.  An  intersphering  with  white  ribbon 
leaders  of  other  lands. 

Third  Decade:    1894-1904 

1895  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  opened  headquarters  at  Washington, 
D.  C.  Mrs.  Margaret  Dye  Ellis  appointed  resident  National 
Legislative  representative. 

1896  Great  relief  measures  for  American  refugees,  instituted  by 
Frances  E.  Willard  and  Lady  Henry  Somerset;  generously  re- 
sponded to  by  many  states. 

1896  Twenty  organizers  and  eight  lecturers  listed  under  the  depart- 
ment of  Otganization. 

1897  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention  held  in  Toronto,  Canada; 
followed  by  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention  in  Buffalo,  New 
York — the  last  convention  over  which  Frances  Willard  pre- 
sided.    Distinguished  foreign  guests  present. 

1898  Passing  onward  of  Frances  E.  Willard,  February  17.  Mrs. 
Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens  assumed  presidential  duties. 

1898  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens  elected  president  at  National  W.  C.  T.  17. 
convention,  at  St.  Paul,  Minnesota. 

253 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


1898  Frances  E.  Willard  Memorial  Fund  established  for  the  purpose 
of  organizing  and  extending  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  activities. 

1899  Silver  Anniversary  convention  of  National  W.  C.  T,  U.  held 
in  Seattle,  Washington. 

1899  Hon.  John  D.  Long,  Secretary  of  Navy,  issued  orders  pro- 
hibiting the  use  by  enlisted  men  of  alcoholic  liquors. 

1900  Removal  of  National  W.  C.  T.  U,  Headquarters  from  Chicago 
to  Evanston. 

1900  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention  held  in  Washington,  D,  C. 
Large  influence  on  pending  bills  in  Congress  exerted  at  hear- 
ings by  W,  C.  T.  U.  leaders.  Sentiment  made  for  the  Anti- 
Canteen  bill. 

1901  Anti-Canteen  bill  passed  by  Congress. 

1901  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Educational  Exhibit  at  Buffalo,  New 
York,  Exposition. 

1902  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Exhibit  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina, 
Exposition. 

1903  Agitation  by  National  W.  C.  T,  U.  for  an  Anti-Polygamy 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Gain  of 
7,000  in  membership. 

1903     Bill  passed   by  Congress  prohibiting  the  sale  of  liquor  in  the 

two   Capitol   Building  restaurants. 
1903     Large  number  of  delegates  attended  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U. 

convention  held  in  Geneva,  Switzerland. 

1903  The  Union  Signal  and  Young  Crusader  owned  by  National 
W.  C.  T.  U. ;  edited  and  published  at  National  W.  C.  T.  U. 
Headquarters. 

High  points  of  third  decade:  Marked  increase  in  influence  on 
Congress.  W.  C.  T.  U.  a  large  factor  in  passage  of  important 
bills.  Plans  and  programs  for  the  enlistment  of  children  and 
youth.    Growth  of  international  spirit. 

Fourth  Decade:     1904-1914 

1904  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  exhibit  at  St.  Louis  Exposition  received 
medal. 

1905  Statue  of  Frances  E.  Willard  unveiled  in  Statuary  Hall,  in 
Capitol,  Washington,  D.  C.  Appropriate  ceremonies  held  in 
Senate  and  House,  by  Congress. 


254 


Appendix:    Chronological    Su  m  m  a  r  y 

1905  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Exhibit,  at  Portland,  Oregon,  received 
prize  medal. 

1906  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention  held  in  Boston,  Massachu- 
setts. 

1906  At  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention,  treasurer  reported  13,000 
new^  members. 

1909  Estimated  by  national  president,  Mrs.  Stevens,  that  one-half 
the  people  live  in  saloonless  territory.  Great  National  Prohi- 
bition program  broadcasted. 

1910  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  Convention  held  in  Glasgow,  Scotland. 

1910  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Literature  Building  erected  in  Evanston, 
Illinois. 

1911  W.  C.  T.  U.  delegates  appointed  by  government  to  attend  An- 
ti-Alcoholic Congress  at  The  Hague,  Holland. 

1911  Resubmission  campaign  in  Maine.  Prohibition  retained  in  state 
constitution. 

1911  Proclamation  by  Mrs.  Lillian  M.  N,  Stevens  for  National  Con- 
stitutional Prohibition. 

1911  Bill  for  National  Constitutional  Prohibition  introduced  into 
Congress  by  Captain  Richmond  Pearson  Hobson. 

1913  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention  held  in  Brooklyn,  New  York, 
followed  by  National  W.  C.  T.  U,  convention  at  Asbury  Park, 
New  Jersey. 

High  points  of  the  fourth  decade:  Increase  in  membership; 
progress  in  department  work;  the  sending  out  of  twelve  white- 
ribbon  missionaries;  and  the  larger  financial  returns  received 
from  life  and  memorial  memberships  in  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U. 
Fifth  Decade:    1914-1924 

1914  Passing  of  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens  on  April  6.  Anna  A. 
Gordon  assumed  duties  of  president. 

1914  Anna  A.  Gordon  elected  president  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  at 
convention  held  in  Atlanta,  Georgia, 

1914     Lillian  Stevens  Legislative  Fund  established. 

1914  Definite  plans  and  programs  for  a  campaign  for  National  Con- 
stitutional Prohibition  adopted. 

1914  Huge  W.  C.  T.  U.  petition  for  National  Constitutional  Prohi- 
bition, presented  to  Congress.  Large  petition  for  National  Con- 
stitutional Prohibition,  representing  Sunday  School  scholars  of 

255 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  e  arer  s 


all  grades,  sent  by  the  national  Sunday  School  superintendent, 
Mrs.  Stella  B.  Irvine,  to  Congress. 
1915     Grand   gold   medal   awarded   National  W.    C.   T.   U.   for   its 
exhibit  at  Panama-Pacific  Exposition,  in  San  Francisco. 

1915  National  president  at  Seattle  convention  proposed  appointment 
of  committee  to  inaugurate  plans  for  a  suitable  celebration  of 
the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  in  1924. 

1916  State  and  Interstate  conferences  held.  Anti- Alcohol  exhibits 
featured. 

1917  Organization  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  War  Work  Com- 
mittee. National  W.  C.  T.  U.  at  the  front  in  expenditure  and 
activities  for  the  safeguarding,  comfort  and  mothering  of 
soldiers  and  sailors.  Three  thousand  French  war  orphans 
adopted.  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  superintendent  received  medal 
from  French  government — for  distinguished  service. 

1917     Hon.  Josephus  Daniels,   Secretary  of   the   Navy,   issued  orders 

prohibiting  the  use  of  alcoholic  liquors  by  officers  of  the  navy. 
1917     September  8,  Prohibition  in  the  District  of  Columbia  went  into 

effect.     National  and  District  W.  C.  T.  U.  led  in  the  campaigns 

that  secured  this  victory. 
1917     Anti-Advertising  and  Bone  Dry  law  passed  the  Congress.     For 

years  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  worked  for  this  law. 
1917     Congress  prohibited  the  use  of  foods  for  malt  and  vinous  liquors,. 

1917  Submission  to  the  states  of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment.  Leaders 
of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  were  present  December  17,  1917,  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  when  the  resolution  providing  for 
National  Constitutional  Prohibition  passed  by  a  more  than  two- 
thirds  majority — the  vote  being  282  for  and  126  against.  The 
Senate  concurred. 

1918  War  Prohibition  Act  passed.     Became  effective  July  1,   1919. 
1918     Mrs.    Margaret   Dye   Ellis   having   resigned   after   twentj''-four 

years  of  service,  Mrs.  Lenna  Lowe  Yost  was  elected  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.  Legislative  representative.  At  the  headquarters 
in  Washington,  D.  C,  there  are  filing  cabinets  containing  cards 
on  which,  by  Congressional  Districts,  the  name  of  each  W.  C. 
T.  U.  member  is  enrolled. 
1918  W.  C.  T.  U.  memorial  to  the  President,  asking  for  food  con- 
servation, prohibiting  the  use  of  foodstuffs  in  the  manufacture 


256 


Appendix:    Chronological    Summary 

of  alcoholic  liquors,  signed  by  6,000,000  women,  including  other 

women's  organizations;  assembled  by   National  W.  C.  T.  U. 

Legislative  representative. 
1918     November  11,  World  War  Armistice.     Third  proclamation  for 

world  prohibition  issued. 
1918     National  W.  C.  T.  U.  maintained  resident  hospital  mothers  in 

reconstruction  hospitals.     Generous  gifts  for  the  wounded  boys 

and  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  hospital  reception  room  received 

from  state  and  local  unions. 

1918  (In  chapter  on  Patriotism  and  War  Prohibition,  see  summary 
of  war  activities  and  war  funds.) 

1919  January  16,  the  thirty-sixth  state  ratified  the  bill  for  National 
Constitutional  Prohibition. 

1919  January  29,  proclamation  declaring  the  ratification  of  the  Prohi- 
bition Amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution.  The  pen  first 
used  in  signing  the  proclamation  presented  by  Acting  Secretary 
Polk  to  the  president  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U. 

1919  Plan  of  national  president  for  five-year  intensive  campaign  in 
preparation  for  the  celebration  of  Jubilee  year,  1924,  adopted 
at  St.  Louis  convention. 

1920  January  16,  National  Prohibition  became  operative.  Lillian 
Stevens  Legislative  Fund  Day  created. 

1920  The  Congress  proclaimed  adoption  of  the  Nineteenth  Amend- 
ment to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  giving  the  ballot 
to  women. 

1920  W.  C.  T.  U.  department  of  Franchise  merged  into  Christian 
Citizenship. 

1920  First  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention  following  war  held  in 
London  in  April.  At  the  close  of  the  convention  the  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.  president,  Anna  A.  Gordon,  commissioned  by  the 
National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  accompanied  by  Miss  Julia  F.  Deane, 
editor  The  Union  Signah  made  a  European  survey  for  the 
establishment  of  work  already  organized,  and  the  extension  in 
other  lands  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 

1921  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  sent  out  a  proclamation  to  women  ot 
America,  inviting  every  woman  to  join  and  co-operate  in  the 
broad-gauged  program  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 

257 


Women    Torc  h- b  e  arer  s 


1921  Series  of  regional  conferences  held  in  ten  cities:  New  York, 
Pittsburg,  Chattanooga,  Chicago,  Omaha,  Boise,  Seattle,  Los 
Angeles,  Denver,  Kansas  City  (Missouri). 

1921  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  president,  accompanied  by  Miss  Julia 
F.  Deane,  made  W.  C.  T.  U.  survey  in  South  America. 

1921  Conference  For  Disarmament  held  in  Washington,  D.  C. 
Madame  Yajima  of  Japan  presented  by  the  president  of  the 
National  W.  C.  T.  U.  to  President  Harding  at  the  White 
House.  Madame  Yajima  brought  a  Peace  Petition  signed  by 
thousands  of  Japanese  women. 

1921-1922  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Publishing  House  greatly  en- 
larged, furnishing  well-equipped,  commodious  headquarters  for 
the  administrative,  editorial,  literature  and  business  offices  of 
the  National  W.  C.  T.  U. 

1922  National  W^.  C.  T.  U.  president  made  survey  of  work  in 
Mexico,  and  strengthened  existing  organizations. 

1922  World's  and  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention  held  in  Phila- 
delphia, Pennsylvania.  Co-operation  with  church  and  allied 
temperance  forces  for  the  enforcement  of  the  Volstead  Code, 
and  allegiance  to  the  Constitution. 

1923  Co-operation   with   governmental   and  other  great   associations. 
1923     In  Columbus,  Ohio,  at  national  convention,  Jubilee  celebration 

of  Woman's  Crusade.  Motto:  Allegiance  to  the  Constitution. 
1923     Jubilee  celebration   of   Women's   Crusade.   Motto:   Allegiance 
to  the  Constitution. 

1923  Anniversary  celebration  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  under  Natlonai 
W.  C.  T.  U.  auspices,  of  November  18,  1874,  date  of  organiza- 
tion of  National  W.  C.  T.  U. 

1924  Large  increase  in  membership  and  Jubilee  Fund. 

1924     National  W.  C.  T.  U.  held  Jubilee  celebrations  in  fifty  cities; 

states  held  similar  victorious  demonstrations. 
1924     National  W.  C.  T.  U.  held  celebration  December  23,  at  Hills- 

boro,  Ohio,  in  honor  of  Crusaders. 
1924     National  W.  C.  T,  U.  Day  at  Chautauqua,  New  York,  August 

16;  Jubilee  anniversary  celebrated  in  Amphitheater. 
1924     Jubilee  convention  held  in  Chicago,   Illinois.     Large  reception 

held  at  National  W.  C,  T.  U.  Headquarters  in  Evanston,  111. 

High   points   of  fifth   decade:     National   W.   C.   T.   U.   War 

258 


Appendix:    Chronological    Summary 

Work  Committee  organized.  W.  C.  T.  U.  exerted  great 
influence  for  prohibition,  patriotism  and  peace,  and  protection 
and  benefit  of  soldiers  and  sailors. 

Victory  for  National  Prohibition  by  the  enactment  of  the  Eigh- 
teenth Amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution.  Passage  of 
the  Nineteenth  Amendment  giving  women  the  ballot. 
Jubilee  celebrations  of  Crusade  in  Hillsboro,  Cleveland  and 
Columbus,  and  a  large  number  of  Jubilee  historic  W.  C.  T.  U. 
celebrations  by  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  and  state  unions.  Jubilee 
convention  in  Chicago  and  Jubilee  reception  at  National  W. 
C.  T.  U.  Headquarters  in  Evanston,  Illinois. 

NATIONAL  W.  C.  T.  U.  GENERAL  OFFICERS 

(1874-1924) 

The  foUovi'ing  notable  list  of  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  General  Offi- 
cers  is  of  historic  interest: 

Presidents:  Annie  Wittenmyer,  1874-1879;  Frances  E.  Willard, 
1879-1898;  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens,  1898-1914;  Anna  A.  Gordon,  1914-. 

Vice-Presidents:  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens,  1895-1898;  Anna  A.  Gor- 
don, 1898-1914;  Ella  A.  Boole,  1914—. 

Corresponding  Secretaries:  Frances  E.  Willard,  1874-1877;  Mary 
T.  Burt,  1877-1880;  Caroline  B.  Buell,  1880-1894;  Mary  A.  Wood- 
bridge,  1894-1895;  Katharine  Lent  Stevenson,  1895-1898;  Susanna  M. 
D.  Fry,  1898-1908;  Frances  P.  Parks,  1908—. 

Assistant  Corresponding  Secretaries:  Sarah  K.  Bolton,  1876-1877; 
Louise  S.  Rounds,  1877-1878. 

Recording  Secretaries:  Mary  C.  Johnson,  1874-1878;  Mary  A. 
Woodbridge,  1878-1894;  Clara  C.  Hoffman,  1894-1907;  Elizabeth 
Preston  Anderson,  1907 — . 

Assistant  Recording  Secretaries:  Mary  T.  Burt,  1875-1877;  Mary 
A.  Woodbridge,  1877-1878;  Caroline  B.  Buell,  1878-1880;  Lillian  M. 
N.  Stevens,  1882-1895;  Frances  E.  Beauchamp,  1895-1905;  Elizabeth 
Preston  Anderson,  1905-1907;  Sara  H.  Hoge,  1907—. 

Treasurers:  Mary  B.  Ingham,  1874-1875;  Abbie  F.  Leavitt, 
1875-1878;  Esther  Pugh,  1878-1894;  Helen  M.  Barker,  1894-1905; 
Harriet  W.  Brand,  1905-1909;  Elizabeth  P.  Hutchinson,  1909-1915; 
Margaret  C.  Munns,  1915—. 

259 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


STATE  W.  C.  T.  U.  PRESIDENTS 

(1924) 

The  State  Presidents  are  ex-officio  vice-presidents  of  the  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.  A  list  of  those  in  office  in  1924,  follows:  Alabama, 
Mrs.  Mary  T.  Jeffries;  Alaska,  Mrs.  Cornelia  T.  Hatcher; 
Arizona,  Mrs.  Leora  L.  Brewer;  Arkansas,  Mrs.  Minnie  U.  Ruther- 
ford-Fuller; California  (North),  Mrs.  Addie  Garwood  Estes;  Cali- 
fornia (South),  Mrs.  Eva  C.  Wheeler;  Colorado,  Mrs.  Adrianna 
Hungerford;  Connecticut,  Mrs.  Mary  B.  Wilson;  Delaware,  Mrs. 
Georgia  G.  Pierce;  District  of  Columbia,  Mrs.  Emma  San- 
ford  Shelton;  District  of  Columbia,  No.  2,  Mrs.  Alma  J.  Scott; 
Florida,  Miss  Minnie  E.  Neal;  Georgia,  Mrs.  Leila  A.  Dillard; 
Idaho  (North),  Mrs.  Jennnie  Cross;  Idaho  (South),  Dr.  Emma  F.  A. 
Drake;  Illinois,  Miss  Helen  L.  Hood;  Indiana,  Mrs.  F^^lizabeth  T. 
Stanley;  Iowa,  Mrs.  Ida  B.  Wise  Smith;  Kansas,  Mrs.  Lillian  M. 
Mitchner;  Kentucky,  Mrs.  J.  H.  Spilman;  Louisiana,  Mrs.  Alice  C. 
McKinney;  Maine,  Mrs.  Althea  G.  Quimby;  Maryland,  Mrs.  Mar}^ 
R.  Haslup;  Maryland,  No.  2,  Mrs.  Margaret  Peck  Hill;  Massachu- 
setts, Mrs.  Alice  G.  Ropes;  Michigan,  Mrs.  E.  L.  Calkins;  Minneso- 
ta, Mrs.  Josephine  E.  Sizer;  Mississippi,  Mrs.  W.  E.  Sigler;  Missouri, 
Mrs.  Nelle  G.  Burger ;  Montana,  Mrs.  W.  C.  Dawes ;  Nebraska,  Mrs. 
Lela  G.  Dyar;  Nevada,  Mrs.  Maude  C.  Edwards;  New  Hampshire, 
Mrs.  Charline  M.  Abbott ;  New  Jersey,  Mrs.  Eva  E.  Gebhardt ;  New 
Mexico,  Mrs.  Anna  W.  Strumquist ;  New  York,  Mrs.  Ella  A.  Boole ; 
North  Carolina,  Mrs.  T.  Adelaide  Goodno ;  North  Dakota,  Mrs.  Eliza- 
beth Preston  Anderson ;  Ohio,  Mrs.  Florence  D.  Richard ;  Oklahoma, 
Mrs.  Josephine  M.  Buhl ;  Oregon,  Mrs.  Mary  L.  Mallett ;  Pennsylva- 
nia, Mrs.  Ella  M,  George;  Philippines,  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  repre- 
sentative, Miss  Marguerite  Hewson ;  Porto  Rico,  Mrs.  Edith  Irvine 
Rivera;  Rhode  Island,  Mrs.  Ethelyn  H.  Roberts;  South  Carolina,  Mrs. 
Joseph  Sprott;  South  Carolina,  No.  2,  Mrs.  L.  A.  J.  Moorer;  South 
Dakota,  Mrs.  Flora  A.  Mitchell;  Tennessee,  Mrs.  Minnie  Allison 
Welch ;  Texas,  Mrs.  Claude  De  Van  Watts ;  Utah,  Mrs.  D.  W.  Jen- 
kins; Vermont,  Mrs.  Elsie  Pease  Barney;  Virginia,  Mrs.  Sara  H.  Hoge ; 
Washington  (East),  Miss  Edith  G.  Whiting;  Washington  (West). 
Mrs.  Lillian  M.  Vincent ;  West  Virginia,  Mrs.  Olive  C.  Barnes ;  Wis- 
consin, Mrs.  Annie  W.  Warren ;  Wyoming,  Rev.  Minnie  Fenwick. 

260 


Appen  dix:    C  hr  onological    Summary 

W.  C.  T.  U.  TERRITORIAL  SERVICE 

In  the  new  territorial  possessions  of  the  United  States,  W.  C.  T.  U. 
women  have  done  valiant  service.  Their  names  are  well  known.  For 
many  years  Mrs.  Cornelia  Templeton  Hatcher  has  been  the  president 
and  strong  staff  of  the  Alaska  territorial  union.  In  the  Philippines, 
the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  representative  is  Miss  Marguerite  Hewson. 
Miss  Consuelo  Valdez  is  the  youthful  W.  C.  T.  U.  organizer.  Por- 
to Rico  is  well  officered.  The  president  is  Mrs.  Edith  Irvine  Rivera. 
Mrs.  Abbie  B.  Hillerman  has  made  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  well  known 
in  the  Canal  Zone.  Mrs.  Mary  S.  Whitney's  gracious  hospitality  to 
early  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  travelers,  as  they  journeyed  by  way  of 
Honolulu,  commands  the  sincere  gratitude  of  the  World's  and  National 
W.  C,  T.  U.  membership.  For  many  years  Mrs.  Whitney  was  pres- 
ident of  the  Hawaii  W.  C.  T,  U.  when  it  was  an  auxiliary  of  the 
world's  union.  In  later  years  she  has  been  an  active  promoter  of  the 
temperance  cause  in  these  beautiful  islands  of  the  Pacific, 

EDITORS  OF  STATE  PAPERS 

Inestimable  help  has  been  rendered  through  the  state  W.  C.  T.  U. 
official  papers.  The  list  of  editors  (1924)  is  as  follows:  Mrs.  M.  W. 
Alderson  (Montana),  Mrs.  Olive  C.  Barnes  (West  Virginia),  Mrs. 
Leora  L.  Brewer  (Arizona),  Mrs.  Nelle  G,  Burger  (Missouri),  Mrs. 
August  Burghard  (Georgia),  Mrs.  Effie  B.  Clement  (Virginia),  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  D.  Collins  (Tennessee),  Mrs.  Mary  M.  Coman  (Califor- 
nia S.),  Mrs.  E.  B.  Dickenson  (New  Jersey),  Mrs.  Maria  J.  Earle 
(Rhode  Island),  Mrs.  Minnie  Fenwick  (Wyoming),  Miss  Edith  P. 
Flanders  (New  Hampshire),  Mrs.  Ada  B.  Frisbee  (Massachusetts), 
Mrs.  Ida  S.  Gage  (Washington  East),  Mrs.  Alice  R.  Gossage  (South 
Dakota),  Miss  A.  V.  Grosh  (Pennsylvania),  Mrs.  Emma  W.  Grover 
(Kansas),  Miss  Rozette  Hendrix  (Minnnesota),  Mrs.  Claudia  High- 
tower  (Texas),  Miss  Helen  L.  Hood  (Illinois),  Mrs.  Adrianna  Hun- 
erford  (Colorado),  Mrs.  D.  J.  Huse  (Vermont),  Miss  Julia  Hutch- 
inson (Wisconsin),  Mrs.  Mary  Jeffries  (Alabama),  Mrs.  Gertrude 
Stevens  Leavitt  (Maine),  Mrs.  Mary  L.  Mallett  (Oregon),  Miss  Mary 
Helen  McLean  (California  North),  Mrs.  Luella  F.  McWhirter  (In- 
diana), Miss  Rebecca  T.  Miller  (Maryland),  Mrs.  J.  L.  Mims  (South 
Carolina),  Mrs.  Norma  F.  Mudge  (Michigan),  Mrs.  W.  L.  Nicholson 
(North  Carolina),  Mrs.  Mabel  Perkins-Dean  (Florida),  Mrs.  Ludie 

261 


Women    Torc  h- b  e  arers 


Day  Pickett  (Kentucky),  Mrs.  Jennnie  Carr  Pittman  (Arkansas),  Mrs. 
R.  M.  Pollock  (North  Dakota),  Mis§  Margaret  Sloat  (New  York), 
Mrs.  Mary  Isabella  Smith  (Iowa),  Mrs.  Mae  Thompson  (Oklahoma), 
Miss  Consuelo  Valdez  (Philippines),  Mrs.  Lucy  E.  Van  Kirk  (Ohio), 
Mrs.  Harriet  Vance  (Nebraska),  Mrs.  Lillian  M.  Vincent  (Washing- 
ton West),  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Welles  (Connecticut). 

MEMBERS  EMERITUS  OF  THE  NATIONAL  W.  C.  T.  U. 
Mrs.  A.  S.  Benjamin,  Michigan;  Mrs.  Caroline  B.  Buell,  Connecti- 
cut; Mrs.  Helen  L.  Bullock,  New  York;  Mrs.  Margaret  Dye  Ellis, 
New  Jersey ;  Mrs.  Maude  L.  Greene,  New  Mexico ;  Mrs.  Elizabeth  M. 
Haughton,  Texas;  Mrs.  Mary  F.  Lovell,  Pennsylvania;  Rev.  Eugenia 
St.  John  Mann,  California;  Mrs.  M.  W.  Newton,  Virginia;  Mrs. 
S.  L.  Oberholtzer,  Pennsylvania;  Mrs.  Helen  G.  Rice,  California; 
Miss  Annie  Robbins,  Florida;  Miss  May  Russell,  Mississippi;  Mrs. 
Anna  R.  Simmons,  South  Dakota;  Miss  Jennie  E.  Smith,  District  of 
Columbia ;  Mrs.  Lurenda  B.  Smith,  Kansas ;  Mrs.  Marcia  A.  B.  Smith, 
Wisconsin;  Mrs.  Dorcas  J.  Spencer,  California;  Mrs.  Ella  Hoover 
Thacher,  New  Jersey;  Mrs.  Mary  D.  Tomlinson,  New  Jersey;  Mrs. 
Sena  Hartzell  Wallace,  Kansas;  Mrs.  Mary  J.  Weaver,  New  York; 
Rev.  Emily  C.  Woodruff,  New  York;  Mrs.  Mae  Laverell  Woods, 
Missouri. 

ORGANIZERS  AND  FIELD  WORKERS 

(1874-1924) 

(Alphabetically  Arranged) 

During  four  decades  not  only  elected  organizers  and  lecturers,  na- 
tional and  state,  awakened  public  sentiment  against  the  use  of  alcoholic 
liquor,  but  many  other  W.  C.  T.  U.  officials,  including  the  state  presi- 
dents, were  much  of  the  time  in  the  field.  On  Sundays,  in  union  church 
services,  they  reached  hundreds  and  thousands  of  people.  The  follow- 
ing partial  list  of  state  presidents,  organizers,  lecturers  and  evangelists 
of  the  early  years,  while  gathered  from  incomplete  records,  form  an 
Honor  Roll  of  which  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  is 
justly  proud: 

Mrs.  S.  C.  Acheson,  Mrs.  McVean  Adams,  Miss  Emma  Alexander, 
Mrs.  M.  J.  Aldrich,  Dr.  Mary  Wood  Allen;  Mrs.  J.  B.  Ammerman, 
Mrs.  Mary  Frances  Willard  Anderson  Crawford,  Mrs.  Anna  Angier, 

262 


Appendix:    Chronological    Summary 

Miss  Lucy  E.  Anthony,  Mrs.  Florence  E.  Atkins,  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Bab- 
cock,  Mrs.  Nelly  H.  Bailey,  Mrs.  L.  E.  Bailey,  Mrs.  Ruth  Baker,  Mrs. 
M.  E.  Balch,  Mrs.  Sunamerfield  Baldwin,  Madame  Layyah  Barakat, 
Miss  Mary  E.  Barbour,  Rev.  Alice  S.  N.  Barnes,  Mrs.  Carrie  Barr,  Mrs. 
W.  D.  Barnett,  Mrs.  Josephine  C.  Bateham,  Mrs.  Marion  B.  Baxter, 
Mrs.  Daisy  E.  Beaty,  Mrs.  L.  M.  Beck,  Mrs.  H.  E.  Beckley,  Mrs. 
Helen  Coffin  Beedy,  Mrs.  Anna  S.  Benjamin,  Miss  Margaret  Bilz, 
Mrs.  Sarah  H.  Black,  Miss  Alice  Stone  Blackwell,  Mrs.  Suessa  Blaine, 
Mrs.  Ellen  A.  Dayton  Blair,  Mrs.  Lucy  S.  Blanchard,  Mrs.  E.  F. 
Blanks,  Miss  Mary  A.  Blood,  Mrs.  E.  C.  Bodwell,  Rev.  Edith  Hill 
Booker,  Mrs.  Sarah  Knowles  Bolton,  Rev.  May  J.  Borden,  Mrs.  Em- 
ma Bourne,  Mrs.  A.  S.  Bowen,  Miss  Rose  Bower,  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Boynton,  Mrs.  John  C.  Brady,  Miss  Marie  C.  Brehm,  Miss  Ella 
Broomell,  Mrs.  Alice  C.  Brown,  Mrs.  Ella  W.  Brown,  Mrs.  Hen- 
rietta Brown,  Mrs.  Sterling  N.  Brown,  Mrs.  Sue  Uhl  Brown,  Mrs. 
Wilhemina  Brown,  Mrs.  Caroline  B.  Buell,  Mrs.  A.  B.  Buckley, 
Mrs.  Helen  L.  Bullock,  Mrs.  Emily  U.  Burgess,  Miss  C.  S.  Burnett, 
Mrs.  E.  S.  Burlingame,  Mrs.  Mary  T.  Burt,  Miss  Anna  Buswell, 
Mrs.  N.  P.  J.  Button,  Mrs.  Minnie  Byrd,  Mrs.  A.  A.  W.  Cad- 
wallader,  Mrs.  Anna  Sneed  Cairns,  Mrs.  E.  L.  Calkins,  Mrs.  Vie 
H.  Campbell,  Mrs.  L.  D.  Carhart,  Mrs.  Adelia  E.  Carman,  Mrs. 
Carrie  Lee  Carter,  Mrs.  Emma  Cash,  Miss  Caroline  Caswell,  Mrs. 
Emma  E.  Caulk,  Mrs.  Fannie  D.  B.  Chase,  Mrs.  Lydia  M.  Chase, 
Mrs.  Rebecca  B.  Chambers,  Mrs.  Sallie  F.  Chapin,  Mrs.  Rose  Wood 
Allen  Chapman,  Mrs.  Nettie  R.  Chipp,  Mrs.  Fannie  L.  Chunn,  Mrs. 
Abbie  F.  B.  Church,  Mrs.  Annie  W.  Clark,  Mrs.  Fannie  Clark, 
Mrs.  Dorothy  J.  Cleveland,  Miss  Ida  Clothier,  Dr.  Eliza  Cook, 
Mrs.  E.  M.  J.  Cooley,  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Cartland,  Mrs.  Delia  C.  H. 
Cox,  Mrs.  Varila  Cox,  Mrs.  Mar}^  Grant  Cramer,  Mrs.  C.  E.  Craven, 
Mrs.  E.  D.  Crawford,  Mrs.  Frances  Crooks,  Mrs.  M.  L.  Cummings, 
Mrs.  Mary  H.  Curlee,  Mrs.  Nannie  Webb  Curtis,  Mrs.  William  E. 
Currah,  Mrs.  Annie  G.  Darley,  Mrs.  Gratia  E.  Davidson,  Miss 
Rose  A.  Davison,  Mrs.  E.  M.  J.  Decker,  Mrs.  Ellen  K.  Denney, 
Mrs.  William  Jennings  Demorest,  Mrs.  Lucy  Van  Deventer,  Mrs. 
Emma  G.  Dietrick,  Miss  Eula  Dixon,  Miss  Cornelia  M.  Dow,  Mrs. 
Sarah  J.  Dorr,  Mrs.  Mildred  A."  Dorsey,  Miss  Clara  M.  Doughtj^ 
Miss  Anna  Downey,  Mrs.  J.  C.  Downs,  Dr.  Emma  F.  A.  Drake, 
Mrs.  Marion  H.  Dunham,  Mrs.  L.  B.  Dyer,  Mrs.  S.  J.  H.  Early, 

263 


Women    Torc  h- b  barer  s 


Mrs.  Charleton  Edholm,  Miss  Esther  H.  Elfreth,  Mrs.  R.  A.  Em- 
mons, Mrs.  E.  L.  Evans,  Mrs.  F,  S.  Evans,  Mrs.  Emma  P.  Ewing, 
Mrs.  Carrie  C.  Faxon,  Mrs.  Catharine  E.  Ferguson,  Mrs.  Susan  S. 
Fessenden,  Mrs.  Cornelia  B.  Forbes,  Mrs.  Frances  H.  Ensign  Fuller, 
Mrs.  A.  A.  Garlock,  Dr.  Carolyn  Geisel,  Mrs.  Annette  A.  Gib- 
son, Rev.  M.  Cammack  Gibson,  Dr.  Myra  A.  Gillette,  Mrs.  M.  E. 
A.  Gleason,  Mrs.  Mary  Read  Goodale,  Miss  Elizabeth  H.  Goodwin, 
Miss  Elizabeth  P.  Gordon,  Mrs.  Evalyn  Graham,  Mrs.  Frances  W. 
Graham,  Mrs.  Mattie  Graves,  Mrs.  E.  G.  Greene,  Mrs.  Maude  L. 
Greene,  Miss  E.  W.  Greenwood,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Grice,  Miss  Frances 
E.  Griffin,  Mrs.  Hester  T.  Griffith,  Mrs.  Minnie  Johnson  Grinstead, 
Mrs.  Caroline  F.  Grow,  Mrs.  Sophie  F.  Grubb,  Miss  Alice  M. 
Guernsey,  Mrs.  Harriet  D.  Hall,  Mrs.  Mary  Hadley  Hall,  Mrs. 
Anna  M.  Hammer,  Mrs.  Cora  D.  Hammett,  Mrs.  Helen  D.  Harford, 
Mrs.  F.  E.  W.  Harper,  Mrs.  Laura  E.  Harsha,  Mrs.  Edna  Rowan 
Harvey,  Mrs.  Mary  Haslup,  Mrs.  E.  M.  Haughton,  Miss  Mollie  G. 
Hay,  Mrs.  Bettie  Pace  Hayes,  Mrs.  Alice  C.  Hays,  Mrs.  J.  H.  Haynes, 
Mrs.  A.  A.  Hawley,  Mrs.  F.  B.  Heald,  Miss  Harriet  Henderson,  Miss 
Rozette  Hendrix,  Mrs.  S.  M.  I.  Henry,  Mrs.  Nettie  P.  Hershiser, 
Mrs.  Nina  W.  Higby,  Mrs.  Eva  Higgins,  Mrs.  Abbie  B.  Hiller- 
man,  Miss  Margaret  T.  Hillis,  Mrs.  Jessie  Brown  Hilton,  Mrs.  M. 
A.  Hitchcock,  Rev.  Alice  B.  Hoag,  Mrs.  H.  A.  Hobart,  Mrs.  Clara 
C.  Hoffman,  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Haggart,  Mrs.  Susan  Holbrook,  Mrs. 
H.  E.  Hollingshead,  Mrs.  Silena  Moore  Holman,  Mrs.  Rhena  Mosher 
Holyoke,  Miss  Helen  L.  Hood,  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Hopper,  Miss  Auretta 
Hoyt,  Mrs.  Esther  T.  Housh,  Mrs.  Callie  E.  Howe,  Mrs.  Mary 
Seymour  Howell,  Mrs.  Laura  E.  Howey,  Mrs.  George  S.  Hunt, 
Mrs.  C.  E.  Hunt,  Mrs.  Dora  Hull,  Mrs.  Etta  B.  Hurford,  Mrs.  Allie 
Updyke  Hutchinson,  Mrs.  Jean  McArthur  H3'de,  Mrs.  E.  B.  Ingalls, 
Mrs.  Neal  B.  Inman,  Miss  Ella  G.  Ives,  Miss  Emma  Jones,  Miss 
Winona  R.  Jewell,  Mrs.  Jane  A.  Johnson,  Mrs.  Frances  A.  Jones,  Mrs. 
Mary  H.  Jones,  Mrs.  R.  H.  Jones,  Mrs.  Frances  A.  Joseph,  Miss 
Belle  Kearney,  Mrs.  Dr.  J.  H.  Kellogg,  Mrs.  Jennie  M.  Kemp,  Mrs. 
Mary  A.  Kenney,  Mrs.  M.  L.  Kenyon,  Mrs.  Belle  C.  Kimball,  Miss 
Addie  M.  Kinnear,  Mrs.  Jane  M.  Kinney,  Mrs.  Georgia  Swift 
King,  Mrs.  Narcissa  White  Kinney,  Mrs.  J.  H.  Knox,  Mrs.  E.  J. 
Knowles,   Rev.    Mary    E.   Kuhl,    Mrs.    Imogene   F.    LaChance,   Mrs. 


264 


Appendix:    Chronological    Summary 

Sarah  D.  LaFetra,  Mrs.  Isabel  Wing  Lake,  Mrs.  Effie  M.  Lambert 
Lawrence,  Mrs.  E,  Norrine  Law,  Mrs.  W.  A.  Lawson,  Mrs.  Caroline 
A.  Leech,  Miss  Carolyn  Leech,  Mrs.  Frances  W.  Leiter,  Mrs.  Lilah 
D.  Lindsey,  Mrs.  Nora  P.  Linville,  Mrs.  Mary  F.  Lovell,  Mrs. 
W.  A.  Loyne,  Mrs.  Lora  La  Mance,  Miss  Permelia  C.  Mahan,  Rev. 
Eugenia  F.  St.  John  Mann,  Miss  Elizabeth  March,  Mrs.  Lulu  A. 
Markwell,  Mrs.  B.  Emma  Marshall,  Miss  Mary  H.  Mather,  Mrs. 
Emilie  D.  Martin,  Mrs.  G.  W.  Martin,  Miss  Mary  C.  McClees, 
Mrs.  G.  H.  McLeod,  Mrs.  Mabel  L  McCrea,  Mrs.  A.  P.  McDonald, 
Mrs.  Emily  McLaughlin,  Mrs.  Luella  F.  McWhirter,  Mrs.  Amelia 
Mentz,  Mrs.  Lide  Meriwether,  Mrs.  Caroline  E.  Merrick,  Mrs.  J.  C. 
Mitchell,  Mrs.  R.  Mitchell,  Mrs.  Sarah  Mitchell,  Mrs.  Henrietta  L. 
Monroe,  Mrs.  M.  L.  Montgomery,  Miss  Alice  H.  Moore,  Miss  E. 
C.  Moore,  Miss  Henrietta  G.  Moore,  Mrs.  Lila  Carlin  Moore,  Mrs. 
Vina  D.  Moore,  Mrs.  Cornelia  Moots,  Rev.  Mary  L.  Moreland,  Miss 
Jessica  Morgan,  Miss  Ellen  D.  Morris,  Mrs.  N,  R.  C.  Morrow,  Mrs. 
Amy  Kellogg  Morse,  Mrs.  L.  S.  Mount,  Mrs.  Nannie  Munell,  Mrs. 
Margaret  C.  Munns,  Mrs.  K.  EUett  Murrow,  Mrs.  Kate  F.  Newton, 
Mrs.  M.  W.  Newton,  Mi§s  E.  P.  Nichols,  Mrs.  J.  R.  Nichols,  Mrs. 
L.  A.  Northrup,  Mrs.  S.  C.  Nutter,  Mrs.  Ora  Oakes,  Mrs.  S.  L. 
Oberholtzer,  Mrs.  M.  J.  O'Connell,  Miss  Lillie  O'Daniel, 
Mrs.  J.  S.  Ogden,  Mrs.  Otis,  Mrs.  Annie  M.  Palmer,  Rev. 
Alice  R.  Palmer,  Miss  Emma  Page,  Miss  Mary  S.  Page, 
Mrs.  Julia  R.  Parish,  Mrs.  Frances  P.  Parks,  Mrs.  Katharine  B.  Patter- 
son, Mrs.  T.  E.  Patterson,  Mrs.  S.  A.  Pearson,  Mrs.  F.  T.  Pederson, 
Mrs.  B.  Sturtevant  Peet,  Mrs.  Sarah  M.  Perkins,  Mrs.  E.  N.Peters,  Mrs. 
Amanda  Peterson,  Mrs.  E.  E.  Peterson,  Mrs.  Margaret  B.  Piatt,  Mrs. 
F.  C.  Potter,  Mrs.  Esther  T.  Pritchard,  Miss  Esther  Pugh,  Mrs.  E. 
Elma  Pjde,  Mrs.  Luella  A.  Ramsey,  Mrs.  Fannie  H.  Rastall,  Mrs.  Eva 
Ratcliffe,  Mrs.  Ida  H.  Read,  Miss  Lodie  E.  Reed,  Mrs.  M.  B.  Reese, 
Mrs.  Ellen  R.  Richardson,  Mrs.  Kate  Roach,  Miss  Annie  A.  Robbins, 
Mrs.  Kara  Smart  Root,  Mrs.  Louise  S.  Rounds,  Miss  May  Russell. 
Dr.  Maude  M.  Sanders,  Mrs.  M.  A.  Schaffer,  Mrs.  A.  A.  Scott,  Mrs. 
O.  W.  Scott,  Mrs.  Alma  J.  Scott,  Mrs.  E.  T.  Scott,  Mrs.  Cora  E. 
Seberry,  Mrs.  Bessie  La3'the  Scovell,  Miss  Roena  E.  Shaner,  Rev. 
Etta  E.  Shaw,  Mrs.  Lulu  L.  Shepard,  Mrs.  Lilian  A.  Shepherd,  Mrs. 
Mary  F.  Shields,  Miss  Eva  M.  Shontz,  Mrs.  S.  E.  Shorthill,  Miss  Ethel 

265 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


Austin  Shrigley,  Mrs.  Jennie  Hart  Silbley,  Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley,  Mrs. 
Jackson  Silbaugh,  Mrs.  Anna  R.  Simmons,  Mrs.  C.  M.  Simpson,  Mrs. 
S.  Wright  Simpson,  Mrs.  Henrietta  Skelton,  Miss  Cassie  Smith,  Mrs. 
Clinton  Smith,  Mrs.  Frances  C.  Smith,  Mrs.  I.  N.  Smith,  Miss  Jennie 
E.  Smith,  Mrs.  L.  B.  Smith,  Miss  Lois  Smith,  Mrs.  Marcia  A.  B. 
Smith,  Mrs.  K.  E.  Smithers,  Miss  M.  Madeline  Southard,  Mrs.  Martha 
L.  Spencer,  Mrs.  Joseph  Sprott,  Mrs.  Ingham  Stanton,  Mrs.  L.  Jane 
Stapler,  Mrs.  Susan  J.  Steele,  Mrs.  Emily  Pitt  Stevens,  Mrs.  Kate  P. 
Stewart,  Miss  Gabrella  T.  Stickney,  Mrs.  Helen  M.  Stodddard,  Mrs. 
Carrie  Lee  Carter  Stokes,  Miss  Ellen  M.  Stone,  Mrs.  Katherine  Stone, 
Mrs.  J.  C.  Stone,  Mrs.  M.  L.  Stratford,  Mrs.  Leila  O.  Stratton,  Mrs. 
Mary  G.  Stuckenberg,  Mrs.  Lucy  A.  Switzer.  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Teats, 
Mrs.  Mary  Jewett  Telford,  Mrs.  Ellen  L.  Tenney,  Miss  A.  Elizabeth 
Thomas,  Mrs.  Julia  Thomas,  Mrs.  C.  D.  H.  Thompson,  Mrs.  Lucy 
Thurman,  Miss  Elizabeth  Tobey,  Mrs.  Harriet  T.  Todd,  Mrs.  Sue  V. 
Tomlinson,  Mrs.  Mae  G.  Tongier,  Rev.  Frances  E.  Townsley,  Mrs. 
R.  J.  Trego,  Mrs.  Cora  L.  Trippett,  Mrs.  Mattie  R.  Turner,  Mrs. 
Lucie  B.  Tyng,  Mrs.  Ada  Wallace  Unruh,  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Upham, 
Miss  Mary  A.  Wadsworth,  Mrs.  Anna  A.  Walker,  Mrs.  H.  D.  Walker, 
Miss  May  C.  Walker,  Mrs.  S.  M.  Walker,  Mrs.  Sena 
Hartzell  Wallace,  Rev.  B.  C.  H.  Washburn,  Mrs.  Booker  T. 
Washington,  Mrs.  Lucy  H.  Washington,  Mrs.  Kate  H.  Watrous, 
Mrs.  Mary  J.  Weaver,  Mrs.  Martha  E.  L.  Webb,  Mrs.  S.  H.  Webb, 
Mrs.  Maria  C.  Weed,  Mrs.  Annie  K.  Weisel,  Mrs.  M.  L.  Welles, 
Mrs.  M.  J.  Wells,  Miss  C.  R.  Wendell,  Dr.  Ellen  J.  Wetlaufer,  Miss 
Clara  Wheeler,  Mrs.  Dora  V.  Wheelock,  Miss  Margaret  Whitechurch, 
Mrs.  Mary  S.  Whitney,  Mrs.  Kate  E.  Wilkins,  Mrs.  Jennie  Fow^ler 
Willing,  Mrs.  Eunice  P.  Wilson,  Miss  Margaret  Wintringer,  Mrs.  H. 
B.  Wisner,  Miss  Lillian  Wood,  Mrs.  Mary  B.  Wood,  Rev.  Emily  C. 
Woodruff,  Mrs.  Mae  L.  Woods,  Mrs.  Caroline  M.  Woodward,  Mrs. 
Mary  C.  Woody,  Mrs.  Clara  Parrish  Wright,  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Wylle, 
Miss  Elizabeth  U.  Yates,  Mrs.  A.  C.  Zehner,  Mrs.  Jane  Eggleston 
Zimmerman. 


266 


Appendix:    Chronologica  l    Summary 

National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Annual  Meetings  or  Annual  Executive 

Sessions 
(1874-1924) 

Cleveland,  Ohio,  1874;  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  1875;  Newark,  New  Jer- 
sey, 1876;  Chicago,  Illinois,  1877;  Baltimore,  Maryland,  1878;  In- 
dianapolis, Indiana,  1879;  Boston,,  Massachusetts,  1880;  Washington, 
D,  C,  1881;  Louisville,  Kentucky,  1882;  Detroit,  Michigan,  1883; 
St.  Louis,  Missouri,  1884;  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  1885;  Minne- 
apolis, Minnesota,  1886;  Nashville,  Tennessee,  1887;  New  York,  New 
York,  1888;  Chicago,  Illinois,  1889;  Atlanta,  Georgia,  1890;  Boston, 
Massachusetts,  1891;  Denver,  Colorado,  1892;  Chicago,  Illinois,  1893; 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  1894;  Baltimore,  Maryland,  1895;  St.  Louis,  Mis- 
souri, 1896;  Buffalo,  New  York,  1897;  St.  Paul,  Minnnesota,  1898; 
Seattle,  Washington,  1899;  Washington,  D.  C,  1900;  Fort  Worth, 
Texas,  1901;  Portland,  Maine,  1902;  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  1903;  Phil- 
adelphia, Pennnsylvania,  1904;  Los  Angeles,  California,  1905;  Hart- 
ford, Connecticut,  1906;  Nashville,  Tennessee,  1907;  Denver,  Colo- 
rado, 1908;  Omaha,  Nebraska,  1909;  Baltimore,  Maryland,  1910;  Mil- 
waukee, Wisconsin,  1911;  Portland,  Oregon,  1912;  Asbury  Park, 
New  Jersey,  1913;  Atlanta,  Georgia,  1914;  Seattle,  Washington,  1915; 
Indianapolis,  Indiana,  1916;  Washington,  D.  C,  1917;  Chicago, 
Illinois,  Executive  Committee,  1918;  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  1919;  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  Executive  Committee,  1920;  San  Francisco,  California, 
1921;  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  1922;  Columbus,  Ohio,  1923. 

LEGISLATION 

In  addition  to  important  Congressional  legislation  noted  in  this  Ap- 
pendix all  important  legislative  measures  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  has  aided 
in  securing  are  found  in  the  chapter,  "Legislative  Achievements."  A 
detailed  list  of  Congressional  enactments  from  1901-1924  is  a  mar- 
velous showing  of  the  rapid  growth,  during  that  period,  of  prohibition 
sentiment. 

HANDBOOK 

The  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  issues,  each  year,  a  Handbook  which 
contains  a  list  of  officers,  department  directors  and  superintendents, 
and  other  absolutely  essential  information. 

267 


Women    Torc  h  -  b  barer  s 


OUR  OFFICIAL  ORGANS  AND  LITERATURE 

The  Union  Signal^  The  Young  Crusader  and  a  complete  supply 
of  books,  booklets  and  leaflets  on  the  many  phases  of  our  activities  can 
be  obtained  at  The  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Publishing  House,  1730 
Chicago  Ave.,  Evanston,  Illinois. 


268 


jr:rmm-